Golden Son by Pierce Brown

☆☆☆☆☆


No spoilers and colorful language abound! I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Red Rising Review (Book 1)

The short answer?

No. 

You have absolutely no idea what lies ahead. 


Dammit, Pierce. HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME? You've yet again left me a staggering mess of feels, frenzy and confusion.
Again, I'll spend the entire year comparing all others, while I helplessly wait for the third and final installment. If you weren't so brilliant, I'd hate your guts. *insert evil glare*

In Golden Son, Brown continues to cultivate the heart of this narrative, an ever beating chord of sentiment, perfectly balanced with the gory realities of war. Two years have passed since the academy, and the loyalties forged there are unmercifully tested while Darrow struggles to define himself. A man of juxtaposition, the Reaper, a Golden God with a heart forged by pit viper venom and ensnared with the songs of the Reds, stands at the helm of the revolution.

There are so many things that have transpired here that it seems nearly impossible to review this in a traditional sense. I feel much the same now as I did when I finished Red Rising, too many words and none of them seem to be the right ones. I'll do my best to muddle on...

The intricacy and nuisances seamlessly woven into this multi dimensional plot has left me speechless. 

Golden Son reads differently than Red Rising, and I believe this is one of the more notable aspects of this book. Although this may feel disjointing for some readers, it is in fact an accurate transition for Darrow, as he changes, so does his world. I am once again in awe of how satisfying it is to read Darrow's evolution. His steadfast devotion in combination with his capacity for introspection is a never-ending feast for the reader.

What Brown does with such complexity is provide a balance in all things, a counterpart in equal measure. Love and war, technology and savagery, advancement and archaic sentiment, Darrow and Sevro. It's no secret that Sevro is my favorite, he is the unyielding voice of truth in a pit of silver tongues. I adore his brutal heart and twisted soul. If Darrow is the golden light of the sun, then Sevro is the velvet darkness of space, you cannot have one without the other.

Golden Son is a captivatingly rare middle book that will leave you bewildered, heart broken and thirsting for more. It is violent, it is tender, it is brutal, and it will rip you open like only one hell of a book can.

P.S.
THIS. FUCKING. BOOK.