Red Rising is a sci-fi novel based on Mars. A society where there are levels of classes, Darrow is a Red, the lowest caste in the colour-coded system. Reds spend their days working on the grounds of Mars to make it a safer living space for future generations. Darrow and the rest of the Reds are then betrayed, only to realize his group of colour are seen as slaves for the higher colours in the system. Hungry for justice, and inspired by lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to train like a Gold, the highest of the caste. He is forced to compete for his life against the most brutal class, including his enemies, even if it means he has to become one as well.

**There are major spoilers in this review, so if you're planning on reading this soon, consider yourself warned.**

I absolutely loved this novel.

I read a little snippet of the novel the month before and absolutely loved it. I decided to get the physical book afterwards and became obsessed. 

This novel is so well-written. I don't typically read sci-fi/dystopian anymore as horror and fantasy really consume most of my attention these days but wow. I was at a loss for words with this novel.

To start off, the characters in Red Rising are well put out. There are characters that aren't necessarily human in this novel, there are characters who look a certain way, act a certain way. And yet, it is so easily distinguishable as to what characters are which. 

I feel like you really can connect to these characters as well. You feel Darrow's heartbreak as he watched Eo die, then buried her. You can feel Cassius' anger towards Titus as he believes he killed Julian. There's so many feelings that are found in this novel that I don't seem to get in a lot of literature.

One thing that absolutely broke my heart were the deaths. Eo's death at the beginning of the book made me bawl my eyes out for a while. Reading as Darrow watched Eo get flogged then hung simply broke my heart. How he expressed how much he loved her, and how so many people watched Eo die was unforgettable. And as Darrow disobeyed a crime, took Eo off the ropes and gave her a burial he thought she deserves, as all the women on the street watched him carry her and sobbed with him, made me feel like I was there. 

Pax's death also broke my heart, seeing how much he cared for Darrow as he risked his own life to save him.

I don't usually cry when I read books; I honestly cannot name one off the top of my head that I have read previously and I cried. But Red Rising really got to me. I sobbed like a little baby whilst reading those death scenes. I felt the hurt the characters felt. And I think that is one of the aspects that made this novel so amazing.

Sci-fi isn't a genre that I read very often but Red Rising seriously got me hooked.

I love how Pierce Brown really thought this whole "living on Mars" thing through.

Even with the idea of killing people and "hanging" them on Mars was very interesting. In my opinion, there weren't any gaps that were left unfilled and I really loved that. I think I find a lot of moments in novels where I'm like, "well why didn't think happen? It could have easily happened?"

I'm just very critical in a sense where I always look at the gaps of certain things and think of ways it could have been portrayed differently or made better per se, but I felt like Pierce Brown dominated the sci-fi genre for me.

There is a trigger warner for rape in this novel, it isn't very prominent -- definitely not the same level as 13 Reasons Why, but it is mentioned as a character in this novel does it to women in the institute and that infuriates Darrow and Cassius.

I don't see it talked about very often but thought I should mention that just in case you are a little sensitive to that topic.

Overall, as you can probably tell, I am obsessed with this novel. It's so freaking good and I am so happy I picked it up and read it!

I cannot wait to read the rest of the novels and catch up before the new book comes out in 2019!