Publisher’s Summary:
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet.
Darrow – and Reds like him – are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies…even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
First Impressions:
First, let me say that I started listening to this book three times before I could get past the first ten minutes. I don’t know if it was the quality of the recording or the narrator, but the narration was difficult to understand. I will say that I am totally partial to female narrators, mostly because I don’t like the way that male narrators voice female characters. However, this male narrator has a deep voice that does not come across very clear to these ears. He also has a Scottish accent, which is cool, but also demands that you pay a little more attention to be able to make out the words. I forced myself to listen because there was so much hype around the series and I was tired of missing out.
Review:
This novel is set in the future, which is quite common in a YA series. The main character, Darrow, is only 16. This is usually an issue for me because, although I enjoy YA novels, I am frequently annoyed with teenagers in the 14-16 year old range. It requires a great suspension of reality for me to accept that a 14 year old has the physical prowess and maturity of an 18-20 year old. Also, “insta-love” is rampant in this age group. The reality is that many authors write these young teen characters as if they are new adults…19-22 or so, knowing that grown women like me love to read YA. Back to this novel… Darrow’s state of mind is definitely not that of a typical 16 year old, but given his back story, it’s very believable. He is part of a group of “reds” that are responsible for the work of beginning terraform on the surface of Mars.
At this point it seems that Earth is overcrowded and his caste is tasked with making the red planet live able. As in most YA dystopian novels, the main character hails from a low, or in this case the lowest, caste of people that have been created in the new world. As such, they have the most to gain from sparking a revolution. There always seems to be some catalyst for their action, which is true in this novel, although Darrow is reluctantly set on his path as a revolutionary. His character is well developed with a decent amount of internal dialogue that shows his uncertainty and fear as he traverses his evolving reality.
Regarding the overall storyline, I completely understand why this novel was compared to the hunger games. There are obvious similarities between the two, which I will not discuss in my effort for these reviews to remain “spoiler-free.” What I’ve realized over the past few years is that I enjoy stories where the main character is thrust into a new reality and must undergo some refinement in order to thrive in that environment. Some good examples are “The Selection” or “The Princess Diaries.” These appeal to me because it requires a thorough description of the novel’s setting as well as extensive character development as the protagonist makes the personality shift. Red Rising follows this model and so as the character evolves, thankfully so does the narration.
Final Thoughts:
If you can get through the first two hours or so of this narration you will either get used to it or note the change in the narrator’s volume and enunciation. After that, it was much easier for me to tolerate. This novel will allow you to get away somewhat with working on more complex crochet pattern because you can get the overall point if you lose focus periodically. However, if you have trouble remembering names (like me) you might want to pay close attention as many of the names sound the same and there are numerous main characters. This really came back to bite me when I started listening to the second book. Overall, it’s a good listen but I cannot elevate this series to the level of The Hunger Games and Throne of Glass series.