Is this book too similar to Red Rising?

[John]

My brother's friend, let's call him K, has asked me to be a beta reader for his book. While it is surprisingly good for his age (13) it bears a shocking similarity to red rising. I'm wondering whether it's just me, or if it really does sounds like Red rising? And what better place to ask than Goodreads, a site all about books?

Anyway, here's the plot: It is 200 years in the future. A string of bad presidents has left the US in deep dept. It has had to sell of much of its territory and is basically a shell of what it used to be. An ambitious general, Will, made an alliance with the CEOs of many large companies. The created the Coalition. The CEOs would offer support to Will, who was planning to oerhtorw the president. In exchange, their products would be the only ones sold to the public, and when Will regained territory, they could claim it as their own. Will took over and abolished democracy (because it wasn't working at that point) and waged war to regain the territory. The rest of the world took sides, a d eventually, the US was the last one on their side. Will's grandson, Julian, is on his deathbed. By this point, the US has started running out of food. They are losing the war too. Julian had started the "Test", which apparently helps solve both problems. The Test is like the institute. Every "extra", or 16 year old who doesn't have a job, is put into the "Test", in which different groups fight each other. Each group represents one company from the Coalition. The groups are sorted randomly, and then each group is given a surplus of one thing (weapons, food, horses). They have to fight each other. The Coalition watches, and they take the ones they like as apprentices. to be trained for the war Everyone who isn't taken as an apprentice is "sent to labor camps" (they're killed).

The main character is a guy named Jai. His dad is a general who was fighting against the US. He was captured and executed. Jai, his mother and his brother are made slaves. Jai is a gladiator slave, and at 16 is considered the bdst gladiator. His younger brother, Ran, is going to be put into the arena to become a gladiator. Jai, knowing that his brother wouldn't survive, kills some guards and escapes with his family. They are caught, and they are executed. Jai is the last one to be executed. Before he can be killed, a rebel group named the Dragons rescue him. The girl who rescues him, Falcon, explain that the Dragons are hired by Canada, the US's worst enemy. They explain their plan to him; King Julian is on his deathbed, and his adopted son, Aaron, claims the throne. The king's brother, General Damon, also claims it. To even the playing field, Aaron hires kids out of the Test to create a personal army. The Dragons want to infiltrate Aaron's inner circle. They want Jai to do it. Basically, they want him to enter the Test, win it, become Aaron's apprentice, and destroy the US from the inside. Jai agrees, because he hates the US.

In the trials, he allies with two guys, Jackson and Cole. Jackson is actully Julian's nephew (his dad is dead.) He's the only person who can beat Jai at a fight. Cole is a commoner who wants to improve his position in society. He's charismatic and gains a band of followers. He betrays Jackson and Jai and starts raiding other groups for food. Eventually, Jai beats Cole. Cole is to be executed, but he challenges Jai to a duel. Jai kills him. Another group is gaining power, and the leader calls himself "Hades." Hades tricks Jai Ito kills Anna, the girl that Jackson likes. Then, he leaks the info to Jackson. Jackson attacks Jai and nearly kills him. He then takes over their group. Jai is rescued by a girl named Mia. They decide to gather their own army. Jai starts falling for Mia. Then, Mia reveals that she is Hades and that she was just using Jai to make her army bigger. Jai gets the army to turn on her, knocks her out and leads his army to beat Jackson's group. He wins the "Test" and is hired by Aaron. Mia reveals that she's a minion of Damon, and she plans to betray him. She tells him that she knows that he works for the rebellion, and tells him that he has to her bidding form now on. Then, Mia shows Jai that she recruited Jackson, who swears to kill Jai for killing Anna.

I asked K if he read Red rising, and he said that he didn't. Do you guys feel that it's toi much like Red Rising

[Joey]

No, I think it's not. Red rising's about an actual slave toiling his life for the sake of the future generation. But then, fast forward a bit, his loved one got killed, and his wife (I think so, yeah, too young to be married) inspired him to take revenge against the Gold. Theeen, he got his identity change with the help of rebels, and became an insider. Then, the arena part (like Hunger Games) happened and I won't spoil too much anymore. So yeah, apparently, it's the usual "YOU KILLED HER SO NOW YOU PAY!" story, but with a bunch of twists, turns, more suspense, action and blood. Hope that this helped :)

[Kaysa]

I guess there are some similarities, like the "Test" and the "Institute", and the infiltration part. Especially the part about Mia which is too much like Mustang. His world is very different to Red Rising though, which is set in outer Space, and has its own (complicated) storyline.