I have been struggling to review this titanic novel for the past week, and I just don’t have the words to do it justice. Golden Son by Pierce Brown is the second book in the Red Rising trilogy, and it is an intense, action-packed, gut-wrenching, whirlwind of a novel.
Golden Son by Pierce Brown Series: Red Rising #2
Published by Del Rey on January 6th 2015
Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopian
Pages: 430
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
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 Son continues 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.
Here’s the thing about these books. You have NO IDEA what you’re getting into. You pick up Red Rising and you think you’re reading a story about a miner on Mars when BAM the plot changes. I don’t even want to describe what Golden Son is about, because if you haven’t read it, you need to just find out for yourself. If you haven’t even read Red Rising, telling you what this one was about would spoil everything. (AND I SAY *NO* TO SPOILAGE.)
Here’s what I’ll tell you: Pierce Brown will toy with your emotions like no other. Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to how he writes: You think you’re in happy, hunky-dory land? WRONG. SOMETHING TERRIBLE WILL HAPPEN. You think Darrow (the main character) has lost everything? HELL NO. Somehow something epic will happen and it will totally make sense and be perfect. There is no such thing as a slow plot in these books, because everything changes with each turn of the page. IT’S AMAZING for the wandering attention span.
You need to read this series if you haven’t yet. JUST GO READ IT. Check out my review of Red Rising here.
Fair warning: the ending of Golden Son will tear out your heart and smash it to the ground. You will break and then try to find a place to curl up and sob. Or die.
(Good thing Morning Star, the trilogy finale, is already out so you can go and devour it ASAP).
If you’ve read Golden Son, how destroyed were you by the ending? I haven’t read Morning Star yet, but I’m downright terrified it’s going to ACTUALLY kill me. *trembles in a corner* What did you think of the finale?
Get Golden Son right now! Amazon. Barnes & Noble. The Book Depository.
A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.
David
That ending. It just… No. There are no words.
Morning Star? The same again, but dialled up to eleventy-one…
thebandarblog@gmail.com
OMGGGG I’m so nervous to read it!!! I know it’s going to be amazing but how much is it going to emotionally torture me while I read that?! Ugh!!
Maria Casacalenda (Big City Bookworm)
Ahhh! I can’t wait for you to get to Morning Star! It was my favourite of the series!! 😀
thebandarblog@gmail.com
Maria it freaking terrifies me! I know everyone is saying it’s amazing and I’ll love it, but OMG I’m so scared of what emotional turmoil I’m going to have to go through! But alas, I’ll be reading it soon!
Maria Casacalenda (Big City Bookworm)
oh man. See for me, I was kind of meh about the first two so I was almost dreading the third thinking I wasn’t going to like it and it turned out to be amazing. Definitely a lot of emotions were experienced but it was totally worth it!
CWT
I’ll say one word… Sevro.
Rita @ View From My Books
I had stopped Red Rising after a few chapters, but a fellow blogger encouraged me to give it another shot, and I wound up reading it all and really enjoying it! I haven’t read Golden Son yet, but I’ve heard the whole series is worthy of bingeing on! Thanks for your thoughts.
thebandarblog@gmail.com
Golden Son is almost better than Red Rising. There are so many brilliant plot reveals. When you find the time, you should definitely dive into it!! Thanks for stopping by (:
Resh Susan @ The Book Satchel
OOh. This must be a great read since you didnt want to give any glimpses into how the storyline would change. I should read Red Rising first
thebandarblog@gmail.com
Yes you absolutely should! It’s intense!!
readthebloodybook
I dont have words to express how much I love this series! Morning Star is fantastic too!
thebandarblog@gmail.com
I am so nervous/excited for Morning Star! I want to put it off, because I’m terrified of what Brown will do, but people keep saying it’s awesome, so I am just going to have to suck it up and read it ASAP! (Also I need more Sevro in my life, so another reason to read it sooner rather than later.)
derekca16
Great book, I read it when it came out. Just bonkers storylines and higher and higher stakes. Haven’t gotten around to reading Morning Star yet but you have me pumped for it now!
thebandarblog@gmail.com
Yes! 100% bonkers storyline! I am nervous to read Morning Star, but everyone is assuring me it is awesome, so I suppose you should just bite the bullet and read it already, too!
Alise (Readers in Wonderland)
I still need to read Red Rising but clearly I have a lot to look forward to! I’m definitely excited for this series now 🙂
thebandarblog@gmail.com
It’s so intense! When you’re ready to dive in I hope you love it!
Kelly
I absolutely loved this book! I think it’s my favorite so far and I haven’t read morning star yet! Darrow has grown so much in this book from the way he view the world as a whole not just the Golds. The writing in the book was superb, pierce took you into this world and made you believe everything these kids experienced. The ending OMG I don’t know how I’m going to feel when this really ends.
thebandarblog@gmail.com
The ending right?!?!? Ugh it slaughtered me! I was SO devastated. But it really primed the way for Morning Star, which I can’t wait to read!!
Jillian Lopez
Oh my gosh I now feel the need to read this book!!! I had no idea it was an Adult book though, but I’ve been seeing this among my blogger friends and they loved it. I enjoyed reading through your posts and reaction to this — it makes me more excited! I’ll give this a try 😀 Thank you so much for this. Your book photos are gorgeous, by the way! 🙂
Jillian @ Jillian’s Books
thebandarblog@gmail.com
Thank you so much! Glad someone is getting some enjoyment out of my blabbering! Thank you for stopping by! 😄
Lucia @Reading Is My Breathing
I absolutely adore this series and I completely agree that this book has no single slow moment. And ending killed me. I read Morning Star as soon as it was out and let me tell you, Morning Star is everything! I am curious what you will think about it.
Btw, hello! Nice to meet you. I stumbled upon your blog only today and it looks like we have quite similar taste in books so I had to follow you 😉
thebandarblog@gmail.com
Hahaha hello!! Thank you for stopping by! I am going to dive into Morning Star after I finish my current read. I can’t wait to read it!
Iron Gold: Perhaps An Issue of Too Much Hype - the bandar blog
[…] of their life. So I was expecting to feel some of the seriously intense feels I did after reading Golden Son and Morning Star. But, alas, I didn’t. That being said, I really enjoyed the book… I […]