Golden Son (Red Rising, #2) by Pierce Brown | Book Review

Slaves do not have the bravery of free men. That is why Golds lie to lowReds and make them thing they are brave. That is why they lie to Obsidians and make them think it is an honor to serve gods. Easier than the truth. Yet it takes only one truth to bring a kingdom of lies crashing down.

Title: Golden Son
Series: Red Rising, #2
Author: Pierce Brown
Published: July 7, 2015
Edition: paperback
Pages: 444
My Rating: 4.5 / 5
Goodreads page

Warning: There are spoilers from the first book, Red Rising, in this review.

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.

(This synopsis is from Goodreads.)

Thoughts

Short summary: everyone wants to kill Darrow

Long summary: Everyone wants to kill Darrow and events speed downhill fast for him.

There is a whole bunch of apologizing on Darrow’s side in this story. He tries to be a better person, even though not all his friends understand.

I feel sorry of Darrow. He’s going through so much and doesn’t trust many people with his secret. The responsibility of his role should be crushing him. It is, but he’s still hanging in there.

Everyone but Darrow’s friends wants to kill him. Seriously. There has been so many assassination attempts on him that I’m surprised he’s still alive.

Aside from Darrow, a lot of main characters dies as well. While I was reading, I was wondering if George R. R. Martin took over Pierce Brown’s mind or something because dang that’s a lot of dead characters.

I listened to the first 80% of the book on audiobook while I was working on digital art. The last 20% I decided to read from the physical book because I didn’t like the audiobook. At all.

Sorry, but the voice actor wasn’t good. I checked out the audiobook (CD form) from my local library and listened to it on a super old stereo that my family had since I was a young child. Although it was super fun to mess around with the stereo, listening to it was not the most pleasurable experience.

I’d rather read the book than listen to the audiobook. Just saying.

One thing that striked me funny was that the Golds ate noodles using chopsticks. I don’t know what was so funny about it, but I started cracking up when I read that. I guess it’s because they were doing something so mundane that it caught me by surprise.

There are so many different characters that it was hard to keep track who was who in the beginning. In my defense, it’s been over a year since I read the first book, so I didn’t remember all the characters and what they did. They are also new characters introduced, most bad.

In this world, people are separated by color. There are Reds, Pinks, Yellows, Greens, Blues, Obsidians, Grays, and Golds (I’m pretty sure I missed a few). In a sense, it’s like race in the real world. A lot of the Golds (in my own personal opinion) are colorist (racist, but with colors). They believe that they are superior to all the other colors and look down on them. So when Darrow does certain things (I can’t say what or else I’ll spoil something) for a “lower” color, some of the Golds on his team would protest.

It’s sad that even in this world there is racism. I guess it’s inevitable when a certain group of people think they are superior than others.

Darrow uncovers many secrets that have been kept from him. Important secrets. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Characters

Darrow “the Reaper” au Andromedus

Everyone is out to kill him. His life now revolves around playing games and fighting. Lots of fighting. He’s under so much pressure, there were times where I wondered how the heck he hasn’t caved in yet.

Nero au Augustus

Also known as the ArchGovernor of Mars, he’s the killer of Darrow’s wife, Eo. He’s not the best of men, but Mustang loves him anyway because they’re family. He doesn’t deserve it, in my opinion.

Virginia “Mustang” au Augustus

She’s in love with Darrow, but he keeps her at arms length because who he truly is. Throughout the story, I felt slightly annoyed with Mustang, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because Darrow was going through so much and Mustang still demanded more from him. It’s not like she knew the war that was going around in Darrow’s mind, but she could have been a little bit more considerate.  

Adrius “the Jackal” au Augustus 

He’s crazy. Like, mad kind of crazy. I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.

Sevro au Barca

Out of all the characters, I want to say that Sevro is my favorite. He’s a bit crazy himself, but he’s super loyal to Darrow. He’d do anything for him.

Victra au Julii

I can’t tell if Victra is in love with Darrow or not. She keeps on flirting with him, but I don’t know if it’s because she’s just being a big flirt or if she really wants to be with him.

Octavia au Lune

Also known as the Sovereign of the Society, she’s basically is the President Snow from The Hunger Games of this world. She’s only about self-gain, and she wants to be the all-ruling power.

Pliny au Velocitor

I picture Pliny as a greasy man that breathes heavily and has onion breath that has slicked back hair. You know, that type of person. He’s basically a snake in a human’s body.

Conclusion

I give this book 4.5 / 5 BBC Sherlock heads. It was amazing and I can’t wait to start the next and final book!

Until next time….