Author: Pierce Brown
Pages: 382
My rating: 4/5
“I live for the dream that my children will be born free. That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.' 'I live for you,' I say sadly. She kisses my cheek. 'Then you must live for more.”
Synopsis
In a future society on Mars people are divided into different colors. The highest caste, Gold, is dominant and ruling, the Silvers are financiers and businessmen, the Yellows are doctors and researchers, the Grays are soldiers and police, the Browns are servants, the Reds are manual laborers and so forth.
Darrow is of the lowest Red caste. He works hard all day in the mines. He and other Reds believe that their work contributes to a better future where many generations will be able to live on Mars, for example, the people left on Earth. But the most motivating factor for Darrow must be that he wants to make the world better for his potential children.
But when the goal of the Reds work turns out to be a lie and Darrow realizes that everything he has ever believed is being crushed into pieces, and when new people he has never met tells him that he has an important mission, his life sets into a frightening and important new direction. He has to bring justice to the world. To succeed with his goal, he has to become the very thing he hates the most, a son of the Gold caste.
Review
This book can be compared to The Hunger Games, but with a splash of science fiction. At the beginning of the book, you meet the main character, Darrow, his wife Eo and his family. The story started out great, building interest for the coming events. We learn about the world and all of the rules. We learn that it is harsh and brutal. Darrow is presented as impulsive, confident and humorous. I liked him right away. He does not seem to think about having a better life for himself. All he cares about is Eo. And even though Eo loves Darrow with all of her heart, she dreams of something greater than this unfair world. She dares to believe that this can't be it for her and every other Red.
As the book develops I liked Eo even more and compared her to Katniss Everdeen, even though Darrow probably is more like her. I just thought about Eo's singing and her courage, standing up to the rulers without a glimpse of fear in her eyes. But Darrow gets chosen to change the world. He has to fight not only for his own life but for the breath every single Red. He becomes Gold, not only on the outside but on the inside as well. At first, I knew he had to act like the Gold people, looking down at the other colors, behaving like he is better than everyone else. In order to win the competition that the schools created, something he has to do if he wants to break the system from the inside, he must act like a Gold, meaning becoming one and he does. This is where I stop liking him. I know some of the things he does, he has to do and I know that his goal is important, especially to all of the low colors, but he kills people and hurts people.
Something that I think makes many readers still like Darrow is that he's full of regret after realizing what he has become and starts acting better, making his group follow him not in fear, but in respect. The plot is intriguing and is very action-packed. I found it difficult though to get into this book. Even though Darrow started behaving better, I did not like him any longer and I had a hard time keeping up with the fast-paced plot. A reason for this can be that I listened to the audiobook while working, but I've done that with other books and still liked them better. If you want to read this book I recommend reading the physical book. It probably makes it easier.
I really wanted to like this book. Now I don't know if I am going to continue with the trilogy or stop after the first book. A part of me thinks that it will get better, but another part of me thinks that I have so much to read that I should just skip it. I'm keeping the option open for now, but it's not a priority.
I hope I wasn't too harsh and negative, but I actually liked parts of the book as well, I mean I did give it 4 stars. And I can give you another positive thing with this book. It would make an epic movie.
Have a good day and an awesome summer!
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