I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising #1
Published by Hodder Paperbacks on September 25, 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 382
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
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The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity's last hope.
Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.
Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.
Break the chains. Live for more.

 In the front of the this book where the praise is written. Fantasy Faction say “The Hunger Games for Hunger Games fans who have grown up”. And this rings true about Red Rising, it is an adult version. That’s not to say that it is a copy of The Hunger Games, it is different – it’s a lot darker in tone, there is more violence and (in my opinion) there is a more compelling back story – but if there is any book to compare it to it is The Hunger Games.

Darrow’s life changes as soon as enters the world of the Golds and their institute. At first the reader, like Darrow, is horrified at the inhumanity of the upper classes and the extremities of the caste system based on colours. But then they become humane, they become people. And it becomes incredibly hard to remember who the actually enemy is; where the games end and reality begins.

Actually that becomes incredibly hard for the reader as well. You begin to care for the Golds, for them to survive.

Also I love the constant references to Roman mythology and Roman names, as each of the characters have some of the characteristics that were referred to. It was characterisation without the boring detailed and made it so much easier to imagine how the characters would sound and what they would look like.

Over and over again Darrow is forced to question not only his purpose in the Institutes’s game but also himself, his reason for living and what it means to be human and free. Can Darrow still be himself when he lives in a world that relies on ruthlessness, manipulation and violence in order to rule?

Red Rising is a brilliant, fast-paced novel, that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you try to keep up with Darrow and his plans to rise up in the Gold’s society. This was a cracker of a book and I cannot wait for part two!

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