From the Bookshelf of Challenge Corner…

Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2)

Pierce Brown

Start date: October 14, 2015

Finish date: November 7, 2015

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Our second book of the month for October.
[close] Our second book of the month for October.

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Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Oct 14, 2015 Victoria Scott rated it really liked it

Pierce Brown is a fantastic author. He makes his books impossible to put down. If it isn't action, it's an insane plot twist, or emotional character development. It's event after event after event, leaving you no time for silly things like a social life. This book lived up to all the excitement of Red Rising, and I'm dying to get my hands on the third book.

The Characters
The reason the book hooks you in is because of Darrow, and the equally fabulous cast of supporting characters. Even Eo, his w Pierce Brown is a fantastic author. He makes his books impossible to put down. If it isn't action, it's an insane plot twist, or emotional character development. It's event after event after event, leaving you no time for silly things like a social life. This book lived up to all the excitement of Red Rising, and I'm dying to get my hands on the third book.

The Characters
The reason the book hooks you in is because of Darrow, and the equally fabulous cast of supporting characters. Even Eo, his wife who died at the beginning of the previous book, manages to make this book amazing. Spoiler - there's a MASSIVE plot twist involving her! There's Sevro, Mustang, Roque, the Jackal, all the leaders of this messed up society. There isn't anyone around who doesn't need to be there to enhance the book. And all of them are so complex. You have to keep reading, even if it is just to know about a pretty minor character. There's tension between family members, or on the behalf of family members. Darrow tries his best to be a leader, and everyone either loves him or hates him. Which, again, makes for a pretty interesting story. And oh, how I love being inside his head! That strange, messed up head... Going from a Red to a Gold has ruined Darrrow, and it shows. He's clever, and that makes him a great leader. But he's also very good, which makes it difficult for him to rise to power in this twisted society like he wants to.

The Jackal and Mustang have got to be my favourites. Like Darrow, they're both incredibly complicated. Both of them can be the bad guy or the good guy, and you're never really sure who's who. They swap from side to side, but they never, ever explain their motives. Honestly, I think both of them are a little crazy. But aren't we all?
No. Not to this extent. If you saw the cliff hanger this book ended on, you'd know. NO ONE is crazy like these two are.

The Writing
Like I said, Brown is a crazy talented writer. He has beautiful lines that you can't help but want to quote.
"They say a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. They made no mention of the heart."
I mean, how does that not send shivers up your spine? Darrow's quite a formal speaker, so a lot of the book is written in that cool style. And like I said before, things are happening ALL THE TIME. Brown doesn't give you a moment to think. Instead, he rushes you through the world, so you're concentrating on the words in front of you. That is a tiny problem though - I need that chapter to process the rest of the book. I need to put it down so I can work out what's going on. I wrote this review a while after I read the book, and I've already forgotten a lot of what went on.

Tip - always write your reviews straight away! Because it gets hugely confusing if you don't... I remember parts, but I wouldn't at all call this book unforgettable. Almost the opposite, actually. You're hooked in while you read it, but that feeling doesn't last long.

Would I Recommend It?
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Maybe it won't change your life. But it really is addictive. Plus, the highlights were the things I can't tell you without spoiling it! So I need someone to talk to RIGHT NOW ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2016 C.P. Cabaniss rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult, dystopian

While this still wasn't fantastic, I did really enjoy this book. I started to like a lot of the characters toward the end of Red Rising and continued to be interested in their stories here.

This wasn't perfect, I'm still not a huge fan of the writing, but it has some powerful moments and left things very open for the final book. I really like the addition of Ragnar. And I actually really like the Darrow/Mustang pairing.

More thoughtful review will be up on my blog soon. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2021 Aly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, romance, audiobook, ya, 2021, favorite-reads

If you thought the first book was intense, you are not ready for this one. It's almost nonstop battle, carnage, and revenge plots. I feel so bad for Darrow, he just keeps losing people he cares about and every time it seems like things might be going well, he gets slammed back down. I just want him to succeed for once and help the Reds, is that so much to ask?!

Every chapter had my chomping at the bit for more and I couldn't get enough. I love the world Brown has created, it's so in depth and ha ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2019 kia rated it really liked it

4.5!!

I'm honestly still recovering from the ending. The ending is crazy omg I think I'm dying because of it.

I like the fact that this trilogy didn't neglet the 'human' aspect of the book. There's a hell lot of rollercoaster plot going on, but there's also the rolleroaster of emotion accompany those scenes in the book. And I really like that because in a lot of books with premise like this, the author often forget that their character is just a human. They forget the emotion of human. But I don't ...more

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Jun 18, 2020 Brittany Kollenberg rated it really liked it

Wow. WOW. What an ending. It took me SO long to finish this book but I am SO glad I did. There were some parts I absolutely loved and others I found a bit dull but definitely something I could power through. I’m excited to read the rest of this series. This book ended on such a cliffhanger it would be hard not to continue the series.

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