So, I finished book number 15. Golden Son was a pretty intense read. It’s also one that I almost did not read. But, before I get ahead of myself, let’s dive into my book review on Golden Son.
Summary of Golden Son
Golden Son is the second book in the Red Rising Trilogy written by Pierce Brown. For those who have read my past reviews, you’ll remember that I struggled with Red Rising. But, we’re talking about Golden Son. I’ll link the Red Rising Review below. We continue to follow Darrow as he continues his quest to bring down the Gold Society. Trying to summarise Golden Son without giving it away is tricky. But, I can tell you he puts things in motion to start a civil war within the Gold Society. The book is filled with treachery, lies, and Darrow struggling to find balance as he finds that he truly cares for some of those in the Gold Society.
Positives
One thing that I really enjoyed about Golden Son was the flow of the book. I found it much better than Red Rising. The story gripped me from beginning to end. Characters that I fell in love with in the first book returned and you found yourself rooting for them to stay alive as the war began. I can tell you that I grew very excited when a certain character found out the truth about Darrow and continued to remain a loyal friend instead of turning on him. Honestly, the character is very dear to me and if they die in the third book, I’ll be furious. Which means they will probably die in the third book.
Another positive that I found was the way the war was written. Yes, you had the blood baths, the fighting, and all of those action scenes. However, you also had the emotional toll that it takes on people. One character was excited for war, but when the reality of war and the cost of it settled on him, he no longer wanted a war. I loved that the main characters didn’t just shake off loss and keep going. They’re young and they were all close. They all felt each loss.
Negatives
Hmm, what did I find negative about Golden Son. On a personal level, some of the betrayals made me mad. There was one that I should have seen coming, but was still freaking out when it happened. I believe that it was this book that I actually found some editorial mistakes, but nothing so bad that it took away from the enjoyment of reading the story. There isn’t anything specific that I can think of. Golden Son did much better than Red Rising, in my opinion.
Overall Rating of Golden Son
I’ll give Golden Son a 4.5 star rating. It wasn’t quite a 5 star rating. To me, a 5 star rating is a book that I pick up and do not want to put down unless I absolutely have to. However, I did really enjoy Golden Son and I am excited to get into the third book. The flow of the story was perfect. The characters were the right amount of lovable when they were supposed to be. Others you kept rooting for them to die. The twists and turns of this book kept me wondering who was going to be the next traitor. It also left me wondering who could Darrow trust. And the way that Golden Son ended left me wondering how the heck he’s going to get out of his new predicament.
Next?
I will not be reading the next book just yet, though I did get it from the library. However, I have the next two Orphan X books that are due this week, and I need to finish at least the first one. I’m sure that there is someone waiting for it because I always had to wait for the next one. But, apparently I missed two, so I’m guessing that this other person was reading 3.5 which is why I was able to grab 4 and 5 of the series. I’ll have to go back and read 1.5 and 3.5 later. So, that will be the next two reads on my list and then we will finish the Red Rising trilogy. Will it have a happy ending? I’m doubtful. But I do hope that one of the traitors from Golden Son changes their mind and comes back because they were a favourite from the first book. I need to pick up the pace though. The year is halfway done and I still have not reached the halfway point in my reading goal.
http://lifewithstephanie.org/red-rising/
