Review: Morning Star

Morning Star

Rating: 5/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton. 

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.

Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied - and too glorious to surrender.

"Shit escalates"

It's over. You guys, it's actually over. Don't get me wrong, I loved the book but I was sad the entire time, like not just from some of the events of the book but because it's the last book. I kinda wish the series would carry on forever, it's like I'm a glutton for punishment because it's not like the books have been heartbreak free, and haven't had some shocking betrayals. Everything was wrapped up so perfectly, and the book just ended perfectly, but it was so bittersweet because ya know...it's finally over. No more Severo...or Darrow....or Mustang or anyone. Gutted! 

Like I've said before Sci-Fi isn't usually my thing so I found myself pleasantly surprised at how much I loved Red Rising, then Golden Son was even better...and Morning Star blew both away. I eagerly dove in to the book, yeah it's pretty hefty, but it's the final book in a trilogy that I feel has been too short! Although, I think it actually works that Brown hasn't dragged this out in to a million books...even though in direct contradiction to that, I'm gutted there aren't a million books. I've waited a year for this book, and after the cliffhanger Golden Son left us on...I couldn't not dive in. 

The opening was spine tingling swiftly segueing in to the horrifying first chapters. Well I was horrified, but then ya know...being desensitised to all this thanks to Game of Thrones, I swiftly started to feel some rage on behalf of my characters! I was immediately thrown back in to events, and back in to the vividly original world of the book. One of the things I loved most, and that hooked me on Red Rising was the world and how original it was and all the different aspects to it, it's political intricacies and the richness of the history to the world, and all of that has been carried on throughout all of the books and is still present in this book, along with the tactics. I love reading the tactics in these books because they're not complicated, they're written so you can understand them and come away feeling like a tactical genius from understanding them and feeling some grim satisfaction at how awesome they are! 

I love Brown's writing style and his descriptions, I can't get over how much I love it all. The writing grips me, and has me glued to the page. It has me feeling a range of different emotions. It sucks me in to the world of the book and brings the world and the characters to life perfectly without an overdose of writing. The descriptions, like the world building is vivid and imaginative and just completely enchants you, as well as being ridiculously cinematic without reading like it's been written specifically for that purpose. What do I mean? I once read a book written by a screen writer, and it was cinematic yeah, but it also lacked a lot of detail because it was written specifically with the thought of it being adapted to a screen play, which means a lot of descriptions and world building where lost. This is perfectly cinematic, because it's just the writing and how Brown makes you feel when you read certain lines. You can picture everything up on a big screen, picture how a scene would be set and played out. But then it might be my filming oriented brain! I'm so sad to leave the world of the book, even though everything is wrapped up satisfyingly I still want to know what happens NEXT.

It's not long before we're straight back in with the action, and what action it is. There's lots of action in the book, and each battle sequence, each fight has you on the edge of your seat. They're described in such vivid detail that you're right there in the midst of it. I really do think the battles work because when you read the book, like I said, you get a lot of talk of tactics, and rather than being boring, you're fascinated, especially when they come in to play, and you start to think tactically as you read. It adds a whole new dimension to the fights and battles. 

The book did have some draggy bits, don't get me wrong, but overall it had a nice pace to it. There was a lot going on, lots of different threads came in to play, some that came in the form of plot twists, that then twisted even more and shocked you. You wouldn't believe the plot twists in this, they where shocking, heartbreaking, horrifying and each one damn made you want to shout and scream at the book. The plot was fantastic, full of action, something was always happening, there where lots of intricacies to it, and like I said, everything was wrapped up nicely. There was humour to counter the heartbreak and heavy action, like a Howler initiation ritual that was like some jacked up version of a busktucker trial in I'm a Celebrity! 

"We're here to blow shit up. Any questions?"

We've watched our characters come a hell of a long way and develop and change and grow and they've all made us feel a lot of feels. I've loved watching each and every one of them change and become the characters we see in this book, even the ones who betrayed Darrow and I kinda hate. Darrow is just brilliant, who he's become, learning from his mistakes, everything he's been through. Sevro is forever my favourite character, yes it should probably be Darrow, but sorry, Sevro is the best. His relationship with Darrow is just mind blowing, I love the interactions between the two, like they had a full on punch up in this book then it's all good a few minutes later. The two of them together and Sevro on his own are a large source of humour in the book. He cracked me up right from the first, the eye thing and his reaction to it and the offer cracked me up! Mustang is another character I love, purely because half the time I'm kind of wary of her like Sevro is, and she blew my mind at the end of the book. 

There's a whole host of characters in this book to make you feel things, make you want to throw the book and scream and rage. Our old pal Cassius is back, he nearly had me going for a minute or two at the end, very nearly and I wanted to annihilate him, but he surprised me and had me fist pumping and cheering even though in the context it was kind of harsh of me. Roque is also back and as much as I disliked him my heart broke. Victra, I loved her and Darrow together and Victra sharing some of the burden in giving orders at one point of the book. Ragnar was another character that I loved and who broke my heart in this book. Darrows family are back, and there's MORE heartbreak from a family member. The Jackal is just...purely, brilliantly evil, he's kind of the perfect villain, I can't really lie. Everyone got what was coming to them as far as the Jackal and his cohorts are concerned, I have to say. OOOHH and Orion and the crew of the Pax are back! 

There's also new characters, we get Valkyries, Sefi, Holiday and more along with all the old characters we love or hate. Like I said, some of these characters blew my mind because they shocked and surprised me in equal measure. I've already mentioned the twists of the book, so if it's not obvious, this book is unpredictable. I couldn't guess what was coming next, I was on edge and wary the whole time because I was never sure if everything was what it seemed, and was kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop in some situations. With new characters came the whole...who is actually trustworthy thing. There's a lot of betrayal and backstabbing in these books and this one is no exception. 

I also thought the moment Darrow and Cassius shared, with the moments from the first book....it was such a nice touch, and it fitted perfectly in with the story. It wasn't just dumped there, it really belonged in that scene and I can't imagine the scene without it. It made me tear up and smile and it was perfect. I loved how that scene was done and it genuinely fit nicely in to the narrative and plot. 

Morning Star is the conclusion that we all hope for when we go in to the final book in a trilogy or series, and I've loved the journey we've been on with the characters. I've loved watching them grow and change, I've learned learning about the world and getting to see more and more of it. I've loved being surprised at every turn, left wanting more, I've even loved feeling like throwing the book and screaming at certain plot twists and characters. I'm so sad the story is over and we won't hear from the characters again, but I'm excited to see what Brown will do next, and I'll read pretty much anything the guy writes, it has to be said! This trilogy has completely blown my mind, and if you haven't read it you should, because now you can avoid all the tense waiting I had to do....and just read them in one go! I cannot wait to see Red Rising on the big screen!

Wishing For Wednesday #73

Wednesday equals TBR stacking tiiiiiime! 
First up is a book with a completely gorgeous cover and an original and intriguing premise/synopsis! Seriously it sounds like so much fun and like I said...pretty cover! I was sold at "Jane Austen meets X-Men" to be honest! 
Second.....THE FINAL RED RISING BOOK IS FINALLY HERE! I'm not ready guys, I'm really not ready! I'll be needing the first book to counter the feels of Morning Star! 

These Vicious Masks

Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared. 

These Vicious Masks is out February 9th, pre-order your copy....here! 
Add it to your TBR....here! 

Morning Star

Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords. Vowing to fight for the future that his wife believed in, Darrow joins a secret revolutionary group and is remade into a Gold so that he can infiltrate the ruling class and bring them down from the inside. Now, after years of hiding amongst the Golds, Darrow is finally ready to declare open revolution and throw off the chains of oppression. Nothing in Darrow’s world has been easily won, and this final fight will be the most harrowing of all.

Morning Star is out February 11th, pre-order your copy...here!

Add it to your TBR....here!

Golden Son

Golden Son

Rating: 5/5 

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher 

Time has passed since the ending of Red Rising, two years to be precise, and Darrow is now fully embedded in to the society of the Golds. But when Pliny conspires to get him released from Augustus's service, Darrow is reminded of what he's fighting for, and he kicks back harder than ever. Darrow ignites a civil war among the Golds, one that could bring down the Sovereign and put Augustus on the throne, but first there's a war to fight, and not everyone will survive, truths will come out, and sides will change. 

Dammit. I am 50 shades of hell no right now. I can't even. Like, I KNEW he was going to betray Darrow, I knew it, I saw it coming a mile off with him being all pissy all the time, but then at the end I still couldn't believe it, I'm SO over all the betrayals, I can't take it anymore! Poor Darrow! Waaa! I am so heartbroken and emotionally fragile right now from this book. 

It's safe to say with that ending, the next book is needed right now, and it's been set up perfectly. I'm most intrigued to see what Mustang is going to do, especially after these events. This book is like crack, I'm not even joking, it's impossible to put it down once you've started reading, and when it's over you need the next one ASAP. I'm still thinking about the book now....and I'll probably be thinking about it for weeks.

I loved the little "Previously on Red Rising.." page at the beginning that refreshed your memory concisely, while getting you pumped for the next instalment and then you turn the page and it's straight in at the action, and it's pretty much non stop from there, there's always something going on to keep you hooked, keep you engaged, keep you reading. I love that about these books, and I love how you don't know what's going to happen next, and even when you do, you're still shocked when it happens because you here hoping you where wrong! The twists and turns are always shocking, and always add to the story.

The thing I love about this series, is that it's set in the future, and there's loads of cool tech, but there's this balance achieved by the author so that while there's tech, it's still pretty archaic at times, and there's still plenty of savagery. It's a perfect blend and balance so you don't get too much of one or the other, and  you really get taken out of time. 

Like in Red Rising, in Golden Son we cover a lot of ground, we see a lot of new locations, we go on another epic quest of sorts, friends are made and broken, and I feel so bad for Darrow that he keeps losing friends, it's not his fault he's kind of useless and keeps pushing them away! Okay it is but still. We find out who Ares is and I honestly did not see that coming, I hadn't even guessed to be honest, I didn't want to touch that aspect because I knew I'd be wrong whoever I said! 

I continue to totally, 100% love Sevro and his Howlers, is it reaaally wrong for me to say they make the book for me? I mean, Sevro makes me chuckle all the time, especially his quips and the little ditties he comes up with! I like to thing he's the humour and the badassness all in one. I just love how he's pretty much like "I am who I am" and doesn't really give a shit or apologise for it. Love it. 

I also mentioned in my Red Rising review, I believe, that I loved Pax, and I really was going to miss him reading this book, at least I thought, but it turned out to be okay because we get Pax's brother and his Dad, and I can't wait to see more of them. I mean Papa Pax has a pet fox that he feeds jelly beans....LOVE. 

Victra turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me, I was wary of her at first, but I think like Darrow and the others, I came to trust her more as the book went on, she was a total badass, and ridiculously loyal and I didn't expect that. She came to be a favourite of mine and it near broke my heart at the end when she's all "I didn't know" because she wanted Darrow to know she didn't betray him and omg. Damn you Brown. 

As for Darrow? Right now, I think he's a bit of a mug, because he didn't really listen to a word Mustang said about who to trust, and who to mend things with, and I thought he'd learned a lesson about pushing people away, or keeping them in the dark, but he did it again this book and look where it got him, silly sod. At the same time, while I want to smack him one, I also feel for him, and the connection to him is still there, especially when he remembered what he was fighting for and when he got to go back home, and how upset he gets whenever he loses people, because it's what sets him apart from the other Golds. I'm interested to see who he becomes in the next book and what the conclusion will be to everything going on.

It's safe to say shit hits the fan in this book, it's truly the climax, whatever happens in the next book is going to be awesome. We have a world in uproar, everyone's running about, and there's power up for grabs and it's going to be interesting to see who it goes to and how the trilogy continues. I love how the plot for the book is one thing, but then there's bits woven in to keep the overarching plot of the series going in the right direction, and there is always more going on than what appears. It's an expertly written, complex plot made up of many components, without being incredibly confusing or you having to take notes. 

The world continued to be engrossing and vivid, with a fantastic atmosphere. I loved getting a glimpse at different parts of the world, and having a trip back to Darrows home. I'm loving how the world building hasn't been forgotten in favour of the plot or so on. There's an equal spread to make sure everything gets the right amount of attention, and it's a world I love and found so easy to slip back in to thanks to Browns world building! 

I'd also like to note that the jump in time was done incredibly well. Sometimes I've seen it done, and it's been confusing and characters haven't quite caught up with the time, but the characters were all where you  would have expected them to be mentally and so on, for the time that's passed, and you knew what had gone on in the two years thanks to the concise little tidbits thrown out here and there.

Romance continues to be subtle and secondary to the plot, not overshadowing it, and it continues to be an interesting one. I can't really say what happens without spoiling it but i'm SO dying to know what Mustang is going to do, I don't think she's going to be horrible to him, but I don't know. We'll see. I'm really hoping certain characters get what's coming to them, which is unusual for me to say, this trilogy is bringing out the side of me that usually only shows itself during Game of Thrones! 

Golden Son truly takes you out of the world for the hours it takes to read it, fully immersing you in to the world of the book, so you're right there with the characters. Characters, old and new, primary and secondary, who jump off the page and come alive. With a plot that always has more going on than meets the eye and twists and turns everywhere, you won't be able to put the book down, nor will you actually want to, you'll be kept guessing, because even if you do have an inkling, you will second guess yourself, and who to trust, like the characters sometimes. 

Golden Son is the sequel us fans where hoping for! It's just as good as, if not better than Red Rising, there's no formula from the first book, used for the second but with different circumstances, kinda like Hunger Games did (don't get me wrong, I love that trilogy but that did make me go uhh). This is one hell of an explosive trilogy, and one that has fast become a favourite of mine, and hopefully loads of other people. This series is going to be big, and I'm waiting patiently for a movie to be made, because this book series deserves movie adaptions! 

Thank you Pierce for writing such an awesome first two books, that have made me delve back in to a genre I was falling out of love with! But at the same tine DAMN YOU FOR THAT ENDING, YOU CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS TO MEEEEE! YOU'VE BROKEN MY FEELS. I have a book hangover that can't be healed. 

Wishing For Wednesday #20

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE MY LOVELIES!
Before I leave to go and get suitably drunk with friends and do silly countdown type things, I thought I'd hit you with a couple of my most excited for books one of which is something to look forward to in the New Year (yaaaay)and is one of my  most anticipated as I'm crazy about the series! And the other, is one I'm super excited for and intrigued by, but I can't find a definite publish date ANYWHERE! Although, it did say December sometimes so it could quite probably already be out!
Aaaanndd lastly is a sequel to a book I really loved, and I'm so excited for this sequel I really can't contain myself, like I would do terrible (terrible, yes, but great) things for a copy of this book, it's horrendous. But it's going to be SUCH A GOOD BOOK I CAN TELL ALREADY!
Have fun, and be safe whatever you're doing tonight, and see you all in the New Year!
I'm hoping to do some great things on my blog in the New Year and thank you to everyone who's followed me and kept me going with this! I love you aaaalll! xoxoxoxoxo

Marrow

In the Bone there is a house.

In the house there is a girl.

In the girl there is a darkness.

Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighborhood called the Bone, in a cursed house, with her cursed mother, who hasn’t spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It’s not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When neighborhood girl, seven-year-old Neveah Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her.

What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life, she’s determined to find evil and punish it–targeting rapists and child molesters, one by one.

But hunting evil is dangerous, and Margo risks losing everything, including her own soul.

Marrow is out now/is out *insert date here* grab your copy/pre-order your copy here *insert amazon link when located*
Add it to your GoodReads here. 

Dead Of Winter

Can Evie convince her rival loves to work together? Their survival depends on it in this third book of #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole’s Arcana Chronicles, a nonstop action tale of rescue, redemption, and a revenge most wicked.

Heartbreaking decisions 
Evie was almost seduced by the life of comfort that Death offered her—until Jack was threatened by two of the most horrific Arcana, The Lovers. She will do anything to save him, even escape Death’s uncanny prison, full of beautiful objects, material comforts…and stolen glances from a former love.

Uncertain victory 
Despite leaving a part of her heart behind with Death, Evie sets out into a frozen and perilous post-apocalyptic wasteland to meet up with her allies and launch an attack on The Lovers and the vast army they command. Such formidable enemies require a battle plan, and the only way to kill them once and for all may mean Evie, Jack, and Death allying. Evie doesn’t know what will prove more impossible: surviving slavers, plague, Bagmen and other Arcana—or convincing Jack and Death to work together.

Two heroes returned 
There’s a thin line between love and hate, and Evie just doesn’t know where she stands with either Jack or Death. Will this unlikely trio be able to defeat The Lovers without killing one another first?

Dead Of Winter is out January 1st, pre-order your copy here.
Add it to your GoodReads here. 

Golden Son

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones,debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Soncontinues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart,Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.

Golden Son is out now! Grab your copy here. 

Add it to your GoodReads here. 

Red Rising

Red Rising
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of Bookbridgr

The Earth is dying, and so Darrow and his fellow Reds toil away, mining Mars to extract the elements they need to terraform the planet and make it habitable for humans to live on. The Reds have always been told they are humanity's last hope, so they continue to work, continue to be treated poorly with barely enough food to survive, continue to try to win the Laurel that means more food. But it's all been a lie.

After a tragic event and a fake death, Darrow finds out that everything they've been told is a lie. People are already living on Mars, it's been habitable for 300 years, and it's been inhabited by the Golds. The Golds are a class of people that look down on Darrow and the rest of the Reds, they're the top of the hierarchy and all the other lesser colours, colours Darrow didn't know exist, exist to serve them. But the Reds are the class expected to work until they die, they're nothing more than slave labour.

Darrow takes up a rebel groups offer, and soon he is disguised, permanently made in to a Gold, to infiltrate their command school. His mission is to take down the oppressors from the inside. Reach a position of power and then destroy them. But first he has to survive the command school, and his first lesson? Being thrown in to a battleground with the rest of house, watched by the Proctors as they fight, make each other in to slaves and even kill, members of other houses. Darrow has to win, he was to be the Primus, because he needs the best offers to get to a position of power. But winning this little lesson isn't going to be easy, it's going to be bloody and it's going to be tough, and he's not the only one with an agenda.

Daammiiitttt, ANOTHER one for my new favourite series list, seriously, when books are usually hyped this much, I go in wary, but a few pages in I was hooked and I knew I was a goner, and now I'm all like "I NEED GOLDEN SON NOOOWWW WAAAA" tensely waiting for the next book. Don't even get me started on the movie. Need. So much need. This book truly deserves the hype because it is astoundingly unique and an utterly enthralling.

Like I said, I was sucked in from the first few pages, from then I was hooked the entire way through, frantically turning pages and feeling shock, sorrow and humour at various different points. Red Rising is is like Pringles. Once you pop you can't stop. Or in this case, once you start to read you can't stop. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it but you get the picture. It's fast paced, the prose is concise yet descriptive, there was an abundance of twists and turns, none of which I expected, which is always a rare thing for me lately. I was constantly shocked at a plot twist, believing whatever the author led me to believe, then finding out it was wrong! Red Rising is impossible to work out, impossible to predict, which is always a good thing!

The world building was just...wow. Cinematic, atmospheric, vivid, it totally draws you in and blots out the real world. It was created and established with such care and detail, the politics and such of the world are explained and detailed so you can understand the world entirely and understand how it works, which also helps to understand characters motivations. It's an intricately built world, with an incredibly intriguing history to it, and an interesting...I want to say layout...with the moon and other planets and everything, but that's not the right word, and I'm fairly sure after this little rambly tangent you'll know what I mean! Anyways, I do really love a world I can immerse myself in!

The characters, where all very well written and very complex. A couple of them had their own agenda's, a couple of them had way more to them than you originally thought, behaviours changed as a result of the setting they where in and the situation they where put in, and it was interesting to watch the characters adapt and change as they experienced the war game. Some of them handled it well, others did not, and it became clear Darrow wasn't the only one, there where others like him. I just found it so incredibly fascinating and well done, to see how these pampered kids, suddenly had this total shock and reality check and how they reacted to it, each characters reaction was very natural and organic, some adapted, some didn't, some adapted terribly, but it was fascinating. Every character was so strong and a lot of the secondary characters could standalone.

I loved the fact you first meet Darrow, then you watch him change over the course of the book, you watch him make mistakes, like when he went from being a very good leader to a crappy one, and then you watch him learn from his mistakes and the amount he grew and changed was fantastic. I felt he was very realistic, we all make mistakes in one form or another, we all lose sight of goals and need to have them reaffirmed and everything, and I really enjoyed Darrow, I just felt he was written realistically, he wasn't perfect, which made him more human.

I also have to mention that I really really really loved Pax, when you saw the other side to him, I seriously loved him, he made me chuckle more than once, and I can't even begin to described my sorrow when he was eliminated, I mean seriously. So many feels. I also really liked Sevro too, he was one of the characters where there was more than met the eye, and I really hope Darrow and his friends/lieutenants stick together and we see more of them together. I still don't entirely trust Mustang I have to admit, because I didn't suspect a thing and I was horrendously shocked and expecting the worse and everything. A truly fantastic bunch of characters!

 I actually took the "which house are you" test before I read the book, and now I'm quite disgusted and disappointed I got Apollo!

I want to talk briefly about the connections being made with the Hunger Games, because I can see why. At points reading the part of the book where they're all in the battleground and at war, I got a very Hunger Games vibe, going on, because of the arena I presume. But I don't like the whole "oh it's like The Hunger Games but in space" shtick, because it's not at all. I feel like in this book, the stakes are higher for our lead, I love the Hunger Games I really do, but for me the world building, the characters and the plot where all more serious and more complex, Hunger Games is serious, don't get me wrong but it's also a lot about the love triangle, whereas in this, things are a lore more brutal, there's very little romance, and it has an entirely different vibe. This is not another Hunger Games, it's an entirely separate book that adds another breath of fresh air to the genre.

Like I said, the plot was complex, there where lots of elements, politics, background, history, how things work with the Houses and everything and the colours all woven in to along with our main arc to create a complex story, that was truly action packed and had all the severity the situation warranted. Yes it made me laugh in places, but it was at times brutal and at times very sad as it was humorous, but it was entertaining and engaging, and I love a plot that is very clearly well thought, and is not at all easy to figure out. There's lots of different elements to the plots, and there's lots of emotion. It has a unique setting, set up and premise, the majority of the book is unique, with the colours and the houses and so on.

I feel like the second book has been very well set up, very subtly, the main focus was on Darrow and what was going on right then, and what needed to be done next, but at the end there's a very subtle set up to the next book, and I say subtle because I have a very vague idea of what the next book will contain, at some point there'll be a showdown with Cassius, there's going to be lots of dealings with Augustus, but beyond that, I can't really predict what's going to happen next. I have a feeling it's going to be a very different set up and vibe to this book, meaning there won't be another battle field (well there could be, but I don't think so, not like the Hunger Games with the second arena) I feel like we're going to see the story moving more towards the endgame as it's the second.

Red Rising, I am so pleased to say, deserves all of the hype it gets, and I truly loved the book, and enjoyed reading it. It was emotional, at times funny, complex, engaging and unique. It really makes you think, about if the world was truly like that, what colour would you be? What would you do if you where a Red? You understand the characters actions, you see some truly great character growth and change and not just from the main character, and the book is truly unpredictable. You'll race through it, there's no info-dumps bogging down the narrative, and it's a truly fantastic book. I can't gush enough about it!

I am incredibly excited for the next book, I can't wait to see what happens to Darrow next, to get back in to this strange and fascinating world and to see my new favourite characters again!