Red Rising || Pierce Brown

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the colour-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. 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. Inspired by a longing for justice, 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.

Red Rising is unlike anything I have read before. It does feel heavily like a mix of The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and Braveheart, with some Greek and Roman mythology thrown in, and the result is something completely unique.

Good things:

• The cast of characters was fantastic. I felt like they were all well developed, with depth to each of them, even the side characters. There were some characters that I expected to behave in a certain way, and they didn't, which I found very refreshing.
• The world that Brown created is amazing. He just drops you into this totally different time and place, and it was so well crafted. It was totally believable. 
• I found the plot really compelling. The twists and turns kept me turning the pages.

Not so good things:

• Toward the end of the book things played out a little too conveniently. I wasn't sure if I could let my guard down or not; it felt like something bad should be around the corner because that's usually what happens when things seem to be working out for the main characters, and that totally threw me off.
• It wasn't too much for me, but this books is often quite brutal and bloody. There is a heavy battle element to this book, which is where that comes in, so I just want to point that out for people who don't handle things like that well. I would definitely recommend this for more mature readers.

A tip for readers: I suggest keeping a list of who all of the characters are as you encounter them, just their name, the house they're associated with, how they relate to Darrow. There is a large cast of characters and sometimes it was hard to keep track of them, especially people that we hadn't seen for a good chunk of the book. Luckily, book 2 does have a list of the cast, but that would have helped me out a lot in this one. 

Overall thoughts:

Red Rising was such an intense ride. I have book 2 sitting on my shelf, and book 3 was published in January, so I am really looking forward to seeing where things go for Darrow! 

Frozen || Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston

Title: Frozen

Book 1 of The Heart of Dread series

Author: Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston

Length: 352 pages

Publication date: September 17, 2013

Genre: YA, dystopian, fantasy

Rating: 3/5

"Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows. At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she's heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light. But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all." -summary from Amazon

The world in the book was really interesting. It was a very interesting mix of dystopian and fantasy. The premise was also interesting to me, and there were some unique elements to the world. An example is that the currency was heat credits, and things like salt were extremely rare and valuable. I live in southern Manitoba, where we basically are frozen half of the year, so I felt like I could relate to that plot point. The story was well-paced, and I found myself wanting to know what happened to the characters.

Unfortunately, the writing missed a lot for me. The world building was lacking. The point of view switched between the two main characters, and their voices sounded the same. It was hard to tell who the focus of the chapter was supposed to be on. The things that bothered me the most (which feel linked to me) is how quickly things happened, how easily they were wrapped up, and the lack of explanation of things. The characters sometimes seemed to hop from one situation to the next, and sometimes it was so quick that I flipped back to see if I missed something. The worst part was that the big battle scene at the end was way too short! It was very anti-climatic! Everything wrapped up way too quickly, and it didn't leave me wanting to know more about the story, yet I didn't feel satisfied. Which is not what the authors were going for, I don't think. Finally, the insta-love was a little annoying as well. The characters went from not liking each other, to liking each other, and again, you couldn't tell how or where that happened to change.

In general, I though the plot and the story itself were interesting. The writing itself is where it fell flat for me. I am certainly not in a rush to pick up the next book, but I might somewhere down the line. 

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Day 21 || Kass Morgan

Title: Day 21 

Book 2 of The 100 series

Author: Kass Morgan

Length: 320 pages

Publication date: Sept. 16, 2014

Genre: YA, dystopian, sci-fi

Rating: 3.5/5

This summer Chris and I watched the first season of The 100 on Netflix. I don't think the show is the best, but I like the premise of it, so I decided to read the first book. I thought it was a good read, and so very different from the show. When I saw the second book was coming out, I requested a copy from Netgalley for review.

I don't want to say too much about the plot because of spoilers, but a quick summary of the first book - the Earth was on the cusp of a nuclear war, so an Ark-like ship was sent into space, for the surviving humans to live while the Earth became habitable again. Fast forward a couple hundred years, and the ship is starting to lose air, and it becomes vital to find out if Earth is liveable again. The 100 are a group of the ship's prisoners under the age of 18, and they are sent down in a pod where their vital will be monitored for radiation poisoning. In their descent to Earth, they lose communication with the ship, so they have to figure everything out on their own. We follow 4 main characters: Clarke, Wells, and Bellamy, who are among the 100; and Glass, who remains on the ship. Day 21 picks up exactly where the previous book left off. 

I did enjoy this book more than the first one. It was a very quick read, the writing style is very easy to get into. I did think the plot of this book did improve on the first one, I didn't anticipate everything that was going to happen. I wish there had been a little more character development. Wells and Clarke did develop from the first book, Glass a bit less, and Bellamy not at all. But there could have been more. Bellamy acted like a spoiled brat a lot of the book, I thought. I understand in the situation he was facing, but that could have been written a bit better, maybe with some more compassion. The tension there didn't help anything, in my opinion. But the drama is way toned down from the tv show, with is really good.

The plot of this series is just fantastic, in my opinion. A group of teenagers that have never set foot on Earth before, wandering around wondering how they're going to survive, not knowing what life on Earth will be like - really great. I've not heard of anything similar to this concept before. If there are any books similar to this that you know of, please let me know! 

I would definitely recommend this series if you're looking for something not too serious, but still has action and an exciting plot. The first book is quite cheap for Kindle, I think I got it for $2.99. If you're interested, you should give it a go. I'm definitely waiting for the last book to come out next year.

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.