ByMarlida

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Golden Son (#2 in the Red Rising triology)
by Pierce Brown
464 pages
Published: January 6th 2015
Genres: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Read: December 2015

So, after being completely mind blown by Red Rising (read my review of that beauty here, and also read Marlene's review of it here) I finally got a hand on the sequel, which I've been dying to read. It'd been a while since I read Red Rising though, so I was a little worried I wouldn't remember everything. But then I opened and book and it just felt like coming home. I'm back, right where I belong.

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.

The Plot ★★★★☆

The plot still continues to amaze me, as it has been doing from page one of this triology. The Plot behind the triology in itself is just perfect, and the plot behind Golden Son is fast-paced, action-filled and just brilliant. Never in my whole freaking life have I experienced so many plot twists in a book. There were several times I cried out loud during the reading of this one, which I normally don't do. I woke my sister up with a "Holy shit?!" one night, just to give you an example. That even turned out to be one of the smallest surprises of the book. The plot most definetly makes it harder to put the book down.

And that ending?! I mean, how can you do this to me when the third book hasn't even come out yet?! Seriously. I have absolutely no clue as to how the story is going to continue after this. For reals, I have absolutely no idea, no suggestion at all, and I cannot believe how it is supposed to be only one book left because I cannot in any way possible imagine how everything is going to be solved in only one book or at all. Seriously. That ending. Holy shit.

The World ★★★★★
The World in the Red Rising triology continues to amaze me. Pierce Brown is one of the writers that managed to make a whole world and make me believe in it. It' so easy to just picture how it's like. The Red Rising triology is dystopian, and the whole point of the book is to create a new "world" (which is not a spoiler, it's a freaking dystopia), so naturally, there's not much about this world you actually like. As in, you would'nt really be a part of this. Yet, it geniously made. I love how everyone is divided by colors, and how it's the universe and how big everything really is

But yeah, it's so very well explained how everything works throughout both the first book and this one, it's easy to imagine how it's like and I'm so excited about how everything is going to turn out - if the world is changing, how is it going to be like then?

In Golden Son, we get to know even more about the world and it still isn't a single thing about it that makes me doubt it. So yes, five stars. No doubt about that either.

Characters ★★★★☆

I think that absolutely every character in this book/this triology is built up perfectly. They all have depth, and always do things that makes sense that they would be doing because you know their personality. Except like five times in this book. A shitload of the plot twists in this book is actions that are based on characters that I seriously thought I knew doing something I seriously thought they would'nt be doing. Does that make them even better chracters? Yes and no.

It's kind of hard to talk about this without spoiling, but one of the characters I never really liked became one of my favourites after this book, and one of the characters I kind of liked is now on my top 10 hate-list of all fictional characters ever. Both of this surprises definetly made the book better.

Then, there's a plot twist in this book I kind of can't believe, because it still makes no sense that this character would do that, so I'm left hoping Pierce Brown will plot twist it back (like, a plot twist in the plot twist that shows that the first plot twist was really a lie and the second plot twist is the truth... you get me?).

During this book, my feelings for Darrow started to get complicated though. I kind of loved him in Red Rising. I did, because he's a protagonist that has a personal purpose, he has his own personal reasons to do all the things he has to do, and he just felt so human. But, I kind of lost that a bit in this book. I'm not really sure if that negative or not, because a part of me think maybe I'm supposed to feel this way. In many way, he feels more human than ever, which is actually perfect and makes me like him more. But in another way, there's something about this development that makes me like him a little less. Or more? Seriously, I'm so confused about this...

Mustang however, I absolutely loved in Red Rising and now, I absolutely love her even more. Brown has given her so much more depth in this book, and she seems so much stronger and smarter. She was in the first book as well, but in this book it's just beautiful.

"Now, I'm sure you understand that I felt lost. One, because I thought I'd found someone special in you. Two, because I felt you were abandoning the idea that gave us the ability to conquer Olympus. Consider that I was vulnerable. Lonely. And that perhaps I fell into Cassius's bed because I was hurt and needed a salve to my pain. Can you imagine that? You may answer."

I squirm on my cushion. "I suppose."

"Good. Now shove that idea up your ass." Her lips make a hard line. "I am not some frill-wearing tramp. I am a genius. I say this because it is a fact. I am smarter than any person you've met, except perhaps my twin. My heart does not make my brain a fool."

And Sevro. Seriously. He has been my one favorite since he came into this story and now I think he's made my list of Top 10 Fictional Characters I will Love Forever. Seriously.

“You are but a mortal," Roque whispers in my ear, riding his horse alongside the chariot, as per tradition.
"And a whorefart," Servo calls from the other side.
"Yes," Roque agrees solemnly. "That too.”

So, even though there now are some characters I used to like but now dislike, and some I used to dislike and now like, I'm actually quite pleased with the character development in this book. Except for Darrow's development, which I seriously can't figure out if I'm satisfied with or not.

Writing style ★★★★★

This one is a little hard for me, because I'm reading it in my language (Norwegian), so I can't really say anything about the original writing. What I can say however, is that I almost never read translated books. Almost everytime I do that, I get annoyed by the poor translating and how no one ever seems to get the words right in translation. That didn't happen this time. So, my five stars on this one goes to Torleif Sjøgren-Erichsen who translated them to Norwegian, for doing a job I so very few times find people skilled enough to do.

Dramaturgy ★★★☆☆

To be honest, I actually wished the book would slow down a little bit at times. It felt a little bit like watching a movie with only action-scenes and nothing else.

Although it made me want to finish the book the same day I started it and it made it so exciting all the way, I sometimes actually had to put it down just to be able to comprehend everything that had just happened before a shitload of new things would happen. I seriously feel that all of this could have been made into two books, because there is so much going on. But, I still love the book, so it's not that bad. And I'd take this a thousand times instead of a boring dramaturgy.

All in All ★★★★☆

Golden Son get's a solid 4 star rating from me. It felt so incredibly right to be back in that world again when I started reading, there are so many things happening in this book that just makes me want to laugh and cry and jump up and down in frustration and I'm almost dying here because I cannot understand where the story goes from here, or how the freaking hell Pierce Brown is going to solve all of this in just one final book and how all of this is going to end because... yeah, I have no clue. I need to read that last book and I need to do it yesterday seriously. But yeah, I loved the book, although it was a little to well action-filled and could have given us a little more pauses. Apart from that, this is brilliant. And, If this triology is not made into movies, I don't understand humanity anymore.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu (Norli, Gjøvik)

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

The Rose Society by Marie Lu (Norli, Gjøvik)

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (Norli, Gjøvik)

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.

Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .

Wake by Amanda Hocking (Norli, Gjøvik)

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

Lullaby by Amanda Hocking (Norli, Gjøvik)

Now that Gemma Fisher has inherited Penn, Lexi, and Thea's curse - and all the strange new powers that come along with it - she has no choice but to run away with them. Devastated that she has to leave everyone she loves behind, she's still determined not to give in to the unspeakable hungers that plague her.

Unfortunately, they're growing stronger every day, and she's not sure how much longer she can resist.

Harper won't give up on finding her sister Gemma, vowing to get her back no matter what the cost. The search draws her closer to too-gorgeous-for-his-own-good Daniel, and tests her fiercely guarded independence like never before. She's always been the strong one who everyone else depends on.... Can she let herself depend on Daniel?

As Gemma and Harper plunge deeper into a magical world they barely understand, it becomes painfully clear that Gemma's old life may be lost forever. But can she still hold on to her humanity?

Tidal by Amanda Hocking (Norli, Gjøvik)

Gemma and Harper Fisher are facing the fight of their lives. Gemma has been cursed with extraordinary powers that have a terrifying dark side, but she's finally found what she needs - a way to break the curse and become human again. However, finding the means to do it will be her greatest challenge yet. And now Penn, Lexi, and Thea - the gorgeous but deadly creatures who cursed her - are determined to kill her before she has a chance. Making matters worse, Penn has her sights set on Daniel - the guy Harper loves - and Penn always gets what she wants.

As Gemma and Harper race to break the curse before it's too late, they're thrust deeper into a mythical world of immortal secrets. They must look into their enemies' past to find the answers they need, even if it means being drawn deeper into their savagely beautiful world. But one of the girls is not what she seems...and Gemma finds an unlikely ally as she struggles to save herself. Will it be enough to break an ancient curse that no one has ever escaped from alive?

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia (Norli, Gjøvik)

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems.

The Calling by James Frey (Norli, Harstad)

Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future.

This is Endgame.

For ten thousand years the lines have existed in secret. The 12 original lines of humanity. Each had to have a Player prepared at all times. They have trained generation after generation after generation. In weapons, languages, history, tactics, disguise assassination. Together the players are everything: strong, kind, ruthless, loyal, smart, stupid, ugly, lustful, mean, fickle, beautiful, calculating, lazy, exuberant, weak. They are good and evil. Like you. Like all.

This is Endgame.

When the game starts, the players will have to find three keys. The keys are somewhere on earth. The only rule of their Endgame is that there are no rules. Whoever finds the keys first wins the game. Endgame: The Calling is about the hunt for the first key. And just as it tells the story of the hunt for a hidden key, written into the book is a puzzle. It invites readers to play their own Endgame and to try to solve the puzzle. Whoever does will open a case filled with gold. Alongside the puzzle will be a revolutionary mobile game built by Google’s Niantic Labs that will allow you to play a real-world version of Endgame where you can join one of the lines and do battle with people around you.

Will exuberance beat strength? Stupidity top kindness? Laziness thwart beauty? Will the winner be good or evil? There is only one way to find out.

Play.

Survive.

Solve.

People of Earth.

Endgame has begun.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown (CDON.COM)

The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity's last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda

Golden Son by Pierce Brown (CDON.COM)

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.

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (Owlcrate)

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

Cress by Marissa Meyer (E-Library)

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

If you haven't noticed it yet, I'm a huge fan of Stephen King and have decided that I will both own and read every single one of his books. For the ocotber wishlist, I've put three of those I'm missing in my collection,

Insomnia: It's funny because my Stephen King addiction all started when I "stole" a Stephen King book from my mom's bookshelf (it was the short story collection "four past midnight" and I went on and on about how the langoliers made sense to everyone I talked to for weeks...), and when I was done, me and my mom started talking about his books, and she remembered one in particular to be the greatest: Insomnia. This is about 10 years ago today, and it's really time to check out if it is as good as she says it is. After all, she was the one to introduce me to Stephen King, so I'm guessing it is!

The Green Mile: I've purposesly chosen to not see the movie, because I'm determined to read it first. It's really time to do that now.

Blaze: This one just seems really interesting, and I've been looking at it for a while now and decided to put it up front on my Stephen King "to-read" list

"His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman. One of the most adoarble, beautiful, sad, amazing triology I've ever read. I read them when I was a kid, about 12 og 13 years old I think, and it's a must in my bookshelf. I really, really want to read them again, and I really, really need them to be in my bookshelf. They belong there.

The Ultimate Hitchikers guide to the galazy by Douglas Adams. I've been hearing so much about this that I just have to read them. This edition hold all of the five novels in one volume, so it would be genius to have that one in my bookshelf as well.

I read Red Rising a while back and was really surprised by how much I liked it (you can read the review HERE). So now, it's time to start on the sequel! And based on the first book, my guess is that both of them, and the third and last books as weel, belong in my bookshelf.

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ByMarlida

Book Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

The wait is over, we have our winners!

M's November Bookhaul

October Wishlist

Red Rising by Pierce Brown