REVIEW Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Ohhh, where do I begin aside from the fact that this book is outstanding!! The first installment, incase you missed it, is Red Rising. It's about a Mars miner, a young man by the name of Darrow, who knew nothing of the world outside the mine and the color segregated world. That all changed when his wife, Eo, was used as an example and publicly executed by the Gold. Eo was Darrow's whole world and he broke the rules and got executed himself only to be revived by the terrorist group known as Sons of Ares and Darrow's whole world changed. After going through numerous surgeries and genetic alterations the scrawny red turned into a statuesque Gold, the plan to infiltrate the Golds ranks from the inside and tear it down. Darrow trained hard to work for the goal he knew Eo would want him to do. In a Hunger Games/Game of Thrones type experience the first book is just the taste when compared to this new installment.

 Golden Son starts two years after the events of the first book. He is already a legend in the making. Now a student at the Academy Darrow is battling his blood feud and on the verge of victory. It does not go as planned and instead of winning a permanent place in the family of his enemy he loses it all. It is unbelievable how much happens in this book I couldn't even properly summarize it without going on and on. There are lows and highs, heartbreak and betrayals; secrets revealed that make you drop the book and say "What the F*cking Hell" and an ending that left me with the longest book hangover I have ever had. Darrow feels lost at points and does what his heart and Eo would want him to do and that is basically starting a civil war between the Golds. When it is revealed he is on the right path and not alone he feels assured, confident and relieved he is no longer alone with his secret. He recruits more help and creates a plan of attack and and when he feels like he has failed he rises again.

Let me explain why is so impressive why I like this series, I typically stay away from political back stabbing, because yes this book has that; the double dealings and lies and stuff just kinda piss me off. I stay away from overly dramatic hard core emotional, because yes this book will put you through the wringer; because I really get into books and I tend to absorb the emotion and if it's really depressing I will get depressed. I think the reason these books are different is the fact that it is in first person you see things from the eyes of Darrow and you see the hope and reluctance in him about his friends. I loved Darrows narration I even sometimes forgot it was in first person and the fact that you can't see what's coming makes it all more heart breaking in the end.

Darrow, Mustang and Servo survived hell together in the first book and their friendship is tested to the max in this one. Darrow gets beaten down only to get back up again and again. Mustang has her idealistic goals but when faced with the truth her love for Darrow is put in question. Servo is the steadfast friend and always loyal and crazy as f*ck. Make sure you read the first book!  I know everyone says, oh this so in so book should be a movie. In the case of The Red Rising Trilogy it needs to be a series it is so complex and has so much in it a movie would cut too much out but a series would be able to work it all in.