Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Title: Golden Son
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Book Two in the Red Rising Trilogy
Published By: Del Rey (January 6, 2015)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: Dystopian/Fantasy
My Rating: 5 Stars!


Book Description:
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.








You know those books that completely blow you away and you weren't even expecting to like them let alone love them, and yet after reading them, they quickly became one of your most favorite reads of the year? That was Red Rising for me last year and because of it the sequel, Golden Son, has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2015. 

And even though I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of it, right before I opened it those nasty little doubts started creeping in. What if it doesn't live up to Red Rising? What if it suffers from middle book syndrome? What if I hate it and it ruins the whole series for me? What if, what if, what if.

So yeah, I went into this excited but just a tad bit nervous as well. 

Silly me, I had no reason to be nervous and I should have known that after the greatness of Red Rising, which, let me tell you, was nothing, NOTHING compared to mind blowing fantstic-ness of Golden Son. 

To once again sink effortlessly into the dark world that Brown has created. One filled with nonstop action, betrayals, conspiracies, war, and the fight for survival in a world full of colors.

This book. This freaking book! Oh how I love Pierce Brown and all his creative genius. 

Oh how I love this crazy messed up world of ranking colors. Reds, Golds, Blues, Grays, Silvers, Obsidian, Pinks...and how, most of all, I love Darrow. His goodness, his insecurities, his bravery, his kindness, his fierceness and his struggles with who is was, who is he, and who he knows he must become. 

His story, his struggles aren't easy ones, but then again, do any of the great heroes of their time every have it easy? Are any of the great stories every simple to read? Their journeys are not smooth and their battles are long.

As much as I love Darrow, I love Servo, Mustang, and few new names as well that completely surprised me. 

Brown truly took all the wonderful harshness, battles, vengeance, blood, gore, and glimmers of love, kindness and hope that made Red Rising such a huge success and expanding on them. 

This truly is one of the best sequels I think I have ever read. So much emotion and turmoil and greatness. So much hope, sadness, victory, death, and the whatifs of what is to come. 

The definition of a book hangover is this: 

When you've finished a book and you suddenly return to the real world, but the real world feels incomplete or surreal because you're still living in the world of the book. 

And a book hangover is definitely what I still have, days later after finishing this. It is going to be such a long wait for book three but I can't wait for it to get here. 








*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

37 comments:

  1. Seriously. I need to get to these books. I have both but I keep pushing them aside. I don't even know why.

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    1. Oh gosh don't push them aside, read them! You won't regret it at all. They are just fabulous.

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  2. Really dying to get started on this series! I think I've put it off long enough.

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    1. It is going to be a long wait for book three. These have quickly become my favorite dystopian series.

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  3. wow that's quite a review! It's great to know that this book was that good! I haven't read the first one but I keep hearing amazing things about it. I should try!!! Great review!

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    1. You really should try them Melliane, you are going to fall in love with Darrow and friends and Brown's writing..

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  4. YAY FOR BOOK HANGOVERS!!!! Love when I find a series that leaves me in a bit of a funk (a good one) where I can't bring myself to pick anything else up for a few days because it certainly could never compare to what I just finished:)

    MUST READ THIS!

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    1. This is a definitely must read for next year Jenny.

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  5. Ahhh! Ali! This review is so perfect. This series is on my list to definitely check out next year and I already own the first book. I'm so glad to hear that this was just as amazing as the first book. It's rare for a sequel to shine as much as Golden Son. I absolutely can't wait to meet this world Pierce Brown has created.
    Beautiful review! :)

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    1. Thank you so much Nick! You are going to love, I just know it and I can't wait for you to start it so we can fan girl over it together. ;)

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  6. I didn't read your review in case there are any spoilers but I've heard so much about this series that I really want to pick it up! I don't know very much about it besides that it's a dystopian. Is there any romance?

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    1. Not really a romance so much as a hint of one. I think you would really like this trilogy though, it really is fantastic.

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  7. I'm so glad this was another amazing read for you, and with it being second in the series is so exciting! I was looking a my fav books and noticed I need to read my sci fi and dystopian - so I'm hoping to get to these.

    Hope you have a wonder and Happy New Year, Ali! I'm so happy to have *discovered* your blog :)

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  8. Kindlemom great review! I just saw this on another blog's wish list and wow great rate could be in my future
    Happy New Year Sweetie!!!
    xo

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    1. I do hope you give this a try Debbie. It isn't like my normal reads but in this case, that is a good thing!

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  9. Wow, fantastic review. That's awesome the second one lived up to the first! that is quite rare.

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    1. It is and it is so much fun when it does and such a nice surprise.

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  10. This sounds fantastic. Thank you for putting this on my book radar.

    Happy New Year! :)

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  11. That's great that it lived up to your expectations. I know how you feel--I hate to pick up a sequel when I loved the original for the same reasons.

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  12. I feel the same about Red Rising-I'm not sure I would like it so I didn't pick it up. Looks like that wasn't the case for you though, I definitely want to give this series a shot now!

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  13. Ditto, chica! You already know how this book slayed me.

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  14. A five star dystopia - you've convinced me. Great review!!

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    1. This is fabulous Ellen, if you are going to read just one dystopian this year, this is the series you need to try!

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  15. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! Everyone loves this sequel! ....But book one bored me :((( Shall I give it a chance? I think I will, but will take my time with it and having another read (of my genre this time) close to me :P Glad you found this to be such a good sequel!

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    1. If book one bored you then this might not be the book for you, although, this was way more action packed than the first one so you never know!

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    2. Yeah, I'm so torned. Maybe if I have nothing else to read? Like that could ever happen...

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  16. It seems like the first book is on everyone's favorites list. I need to read it!

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    1. You do! I know this is your kind of book Candace!

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  17. My review will post Monday and yes to all. This is a series I just want to buy for all of my friends and shout read it..then stand by and watch!

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    1. Yes! That is exactly how I feel about it too Kim!

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  18. I just read Golden Son also! I liked this one even better too! Sevro is my favorite! I'm pretty fond of the new obsidian too. Talk about a book hangover! I couldn't read anything else for DAYS and I couldn't stop thinking about it. (Which was hard since I finished it on a plane)

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