Liars make the best promises.
Pierce Brown, Golden Son
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Del Rey
Page Count: 464
Reading Method: Physical
Dates Read: April 27 – May 3, 2021
Synopsis:
As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.
A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.
He must live for more.
Review:
Four score and a million years ago, I read Red Rising (the first book in the series). I absolutely adored it – Howlers4lyfe, am I right? And then when I started my ill-fated book club, our first book choice was Red Rising. So you would think with how much I loved Red Rising, I would immediately pick up Golden Son.
You wouldn’t be entirely wrong. After my first read through, I *did* pick up Golden Son with the intent of continuing on. BUT – there is a mega time jump between Red Rising and Golden Son and young Haley was quite salty about it. I didn’t even make it through the first chapter before giving up. I don’t know what possessed me to give it another go, but I packed it in my bag for my anniversary get away and decided to power through.
There wasn’t much powering through though. As with the first book, Golden Son was an absolute gem and I devoured it as quickly as possible. Here are my thoughts:
Plot:
As mentioned previously, Golden Son picks up a few years after the events of Red Rising. Darrow is still on his path to overthrow the Golds but he’s hit some speedbumps along the way. Through unlikely alliances, and steadfast friendships, he develops plan after plan to accomplish his goal.
While I liked the overall story line, there were quite a few redundancies and the middle section became dull because of it. I think I can safely say without spoiling anything, Darrow would come up with a plan and then something would ruin it. And then he would come up with a new plan and something would ruin it. For 400 or so pages… While that pattern got a little boring, the actual events of the story were interesting and enough to encourage you to keep reading.
The last few chapters though… kicked me right in the bloodydamn face. I have never felt so many emotions in such a small time frame. I literally can’t say more without giving something important away… you’ll just have to read it to find out.
Characters:
Yet again, I feel like if I say too much here I will give away something important. Obviously we’ve still got Darrow as our MC but there are still some familiar faces from before, as well as a whole cast of new characters for us to fall in and out of love with. Brown seriously doesn’t let us love or trust or hate any one character for too long.
Writing:
Ughhhh… still so good. I remember reading the first book and thinking “how did I fall so in love with Eo in such a short amount of time?” It’s because Brown knows how to write a fantastic and complex character that we instantly have no choice but to love. And it’s the same in Golden Son. And while there are many moments of “what the actual FUCK,” none of it is unbelievable or without evidence of some sort.
Overall:
Weary of the time jump in the beginning? Get over it. It’s so worth it. I need to read the next book IMMEDIATELY.
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