Lit. Circles Book Review: Red Rising

The book started off with a very powerful beginning that provides inspiration for the main character throughout the rest of the book. The story has very quickly progressed, with Darrow having about 5 major setting changes so far. Darrow has come in conflict with his own identity on a few occasions and is currently conflicted over whether or not he should tell Cassius the truth about his brother. So far the book has had a very similar theme and plot line to The Hunger Games, with Darrow having been born and raised in poverty and losing a loved one so young. He moves forward throughout the book in the name of Eo and her dream, as Katniss did for her sister. He gets a makeover and enters the ‘Institute’, and the war games that also bear resemblance to the hunger games that Katniss must compete in. Darrow, like Katniss, feels that he doesn’t belong to the golds and has to feign relationships to get head in the game. If I had not read The Hunger Games before reading Red Rising, I would think that Red Rising is an incredible book and would definitely recommend it to everybody. The book is overall entertaining and would probably be a lot more so if the particular genre if belongs to were a little more diverse.