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466 pages, ebook
First published January 6, 2015
“I will die. You will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind - how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall.”
“Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark.”
“Friendships take minutes to make, moments to break, years to repair.”
"I'm Gold, bitch. What'd you expect? Warm milk and cookies just because I'm pocket sized?”
“I will die. You will die. We will all die and the universe will carry on without care. All that we have is that shout into the wind - how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall.”
“… I was in a dark woods, blind and lost as Dante before Virgil. But Quinn helped me. Her voice calling me out of misery. She became my home. As she puts it, “Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where you find light when all grows dark.”
I explode through the bridge like a ball of lead shot into a store of china and glass. I crash into displays and strategy desks before blasting through the reinforced metal of the bridge walls, through the steel of the hallways till at last I slam bodily into a bulkhead a hundred meters through and past the bridge. Dazed. Can't find Sevro. I call him over the com. He groans something about his ass. Maybe he did shit himself.
Sevro spits in my face, right under the eye. "Guess wrong again and I leave you like this." He snaps his fingers. "I will not come back. I will not help you. I will not bleed for you. I will not sacrifice my friends for a man who doesn't give enough of a shit about me to put his neck out just once. Trust goes both ways, Darrow. This time you have to take a leap."
He can't say any more because I'm hugging him and crying. I sob and hold on to him, shaking, scaring him. He doesn't move except to pat me on the head. All the weight falls from my shoulders. Someone knows. He knows and he's here. He knows and he came to help me. To help me. I can't stop shaking and saying thank you. Eo was right. I was right. "You are my friend," I tremble out like a child. It almost makes him cry seeing me this way.
The Actual Review
Psst. A new video is up - all about the bad books I've read this year!
Now that you know that this one is on it, check out the Worst Books of 2019 video to see what other ones made the cut!
I don't know what's wrong with me but this one is so gory-damn boring that I could scream.![]()
"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."
“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.”
“We are not our station in life. We are us - the sum of what we've done, what we want to do, and the people who we keep close.”
“Let him think he owns me. Let him welcome me into his house, so I might burn it down.”
“Rise so high, in mud you lie.”
“Hic sunt leones. Here be lions.”
If your heart beats like a drum,
and your leg's a little wet,
it's 'cause the Reaper's come
to collect a little debt.
❝My son, my daughter, now that you bleed, you shall know no fear, no defeat, only victory. Your cowardice seeps from you. Your rage burns bright. Rise, warrior of Gold, and take with you your Color’s might.❞
'If your heart beats like a drum and your leg's a little wet, it's 'cause the Reaper's come to collect a little debt.'
“You're a sinister little shit, aren't you?" Victra asks.
"I'm Gold, bitch. What'd you expect? Warm milk and cookies just because I'm pocket sized?”
"Like a sheep invited to a banquet in his honor thrown by wolves.”
Step 1 - Read or Reread (trust me on this,
unless you read it in the last few
months) Red Rising
Step 2 - Find a quiet space and time to immerse
yourself in this book. Once you start
you will not want to stop.
Step 3 - Gather snacks, comfortable clothes,
pillows and blankets. You are not
going to want to get up for anything
Step 4 - Make sure to have your highlighter
ready there are so many great lines to
mark.
Step 5 - READ ALL THE WORDS!!!!!
"For seven hundred years, my people have been enslaved without voice, without hope. Now I am their sword."
"Were I still the man Eo knew, I would have stood frozen in horror. But that man is gone. I mourn his passing every day."
Epic roller coaster ride from start to finish! I'd have given it 6 stars if I could.
At the end of the first book of this trilogy, Darrow Au Andromedus, after winning the Institutes barbaric challenge, kneels before his enemy and agrees to become his adopted son. The second book in the trilogy begins two years later with Darrow at the head of a fleet of warships battling a simulated war against house Bellona's oldest son Karnus for victory in the graduation test of the Academy.
I won't spoil even the first chapter for you. But this author knows how to take you from highs to lows to highs to lows and back again. There were times I wanted to scream "Yeah!!!!" and others when I wanted to throw my tablet across the room. I couldn't help but relate with Darrow in the first book and that continued and deepened in the second. The love he has for his friends continues to grow, as he also gains other friends. He feels terrible guilt because he's constantly having to lie to them about who he really is. The guilt eats at him throughout the novel. I thought it made him so real. I think anyone in that situation would feel the same.
The writing was amazing. When there was betrayal, it came as a shock. When there was a twist or turn, I was surprised that I didn't see it coming. Which is so refreshing! It seems so many authors think they have to foreshadow things. Prepare our fragile hearts for the shock like we can't take it if they don't. I think there is nothing better than reading something and going "BEEEELP!!!" There was enough of that in this book to make it easily my favorites of all time. Seriously, I think I finally read a book that has dislodged Ender's Game as my favorite book of all time.
Grade A, absolutely fantastic material. Definitely a MUST READ!
To read my review of the other books in this series, use the links below:
Book One: Red Rising
Book Three: Morning Star