Review: Morning Star by Pierce Brown

Title: Morning Star
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Trilogy #3
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: February 9th, 2016
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.

Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied - and too glorious to surrender.

Morning star was a tough one to wait for. You see, they didn't add it to Netgalley this time around, at least that I know of, so I had to actually wait until the release date. TORTURE. I think it was worth the wait though.

Golden Son leaves you hanging pretty darn good. I think it might have been the worst cliff hanger ever, so if you haven't read these books and plan to, make sure you have Morning Star in the wings waiting.

I really loved this Trilogy. Red Rising was the best book by far. Golden Son and Morning Star are very full of war and tactical stuff. Jen had mentioned she was unsure of reading these because they are kinda "boy books". That is completely accurate. Those things your little brothers would talk about and gross you out in life.. totally all over these books. lol. Mostly in the form of Servo. That kid is one crazy mother fucker.

I had a little trouble getting through Morning Star. It was full of action for sure. It was none stop from the first page. Definitely a lot more going on than in Golden Son. It was longer than the first two installments. I felt like I never made any progress when I sat down and picked up my kindle. Also, my daughter discovered Gortimer Gibbons on Amazon Prime, so I've missed out on my nightly reading time, watching all of those with her. lol. So there have been a number of things that slowed me down, but most had nothing to do with the book itself. And I was perfectly okay with that, because final books should always be read slowly.

Or so I thought. Apparently there will be more books from this world. I haven't looked much into it because I didn't want to spoil anything for myself at the time. But let me tell you, after that ending... holy shit.. I need to read more.

Don't be scared, it wraps up nicely. No cliffy's, but just curiosity at a huge reveal. Which I'm still reeling over because I had no idea. And even by me saying that, I don't think that would give anything away to anyone. :)

Overall, the Red Rising Trilogy is awesome, and Morning Star was a fantastic ending. I only gave it 4 stars, because I didn't like it as much as Red Rising. I probably would have given it a 4.5 to be technical.

Now I have to go read about what other books Mr. Brown has in store for us.

LOL, so I was looking for a gif that had to do with Mars, since this is where everything started.... 

I cannot stop laughing. 

About the author:


Pierce Brown spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for his cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. Graduating college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body. So while trying to make it as a writer, he worked as a manager of social media at a startup tech company, toiled as a peon on the Disney lot at ABC Studios, did his time as an NBC page, and gave sleep deprivation a new meaning during his stint as an aide on a U.S. Senate Campaign. Now he lives in Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre. Note to the reader: Always feel free to contact him via his website, twitter, or facebook. He likes people. Except if you're a trollish person. Then he merely puts up with you for the sake of manners and propriety.

Find Pierce:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: Del Rey, golden son, mars, Morning Star, Pierce Brown, random house, Red Rising, reviews, trilogy, war

Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

Title: Golden Son
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Trilogy #2
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.

It seems like I waited ages to get my hands on Golden Son. When I read Red Rising last year, I was blown away. I mean, that book.... I have no words. So you would think that I'd rip through Golden Son in a day or two.. Nope. Here is the thing, I need to have a little sit down with Pierce Brown and Del Rey. They just can't be putting out such awesomeness during the Holiday Season. It's Cruel!!

I really wanted to get it read and reviewed before release, but I couldn't bring myself to rush through it. I read it slowly and savored every word. Wow... what a sequel. Usually the second book in a Trilogy isn't as action packed. That is definitely not the case here. While I found the middle to be a little slow, it was only because of all the "war talk, strategy'ish stuff". The crap that goes down before and after more than makes up for it.

What I really loved about Golden Son... were the answered questions. Now I'm going to be vague, because some of you, including Jen, have not read Red Rising yet. So I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. In Red Rising, you never find out who Ares is. It's revealed in Golden Son!!! yup!!! That it is!! And I was shocked.

There are so many shocking moments. One that brought me back to that tragic scene in book one that started it all. Poor Eo and Darrow. And the list just goes on. So many times I put my kindle down, thinking.. "no.. that did not just happen." but it did. Oh yes it did.

Also!! I forgot how violent Pierces writing can be. Holy cow, there are some really messed up scenes..There are deaths. A ton of them.  And the blood, and other bodily fluids, but like I said when I reviewed Red Rising, it's necessary. This is war, and war is not pretty.

I loved Golden Son, and I cannot wait for the final book. That ending. OMG I can't even... so here is a gif.

About the author:


Pierce Brown spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for his cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. Graduating college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body. So while trying to make it as a writer, he worked as a manager of social media at a startup tech company, toiled as a peon on the Disney lot at ABC Studios, did his time as an NBC page, and gave sleep deprivation a new meaning during his stint as an aide on a U.S. Senate Campaign. Now he lives in Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre. Note to the reader: Always feel free to contact him via his website, twitter, or facebook. He likes people. Except if you're a trollish person. Then he merely puts up with you for the sake of manners and propriety.

Find Pierce:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: awesome, Del Rey, golden son, mars, Pierce Brown, random house, Red Rising, reviews, trilogy, war

Judging a Book By Its Cover: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

We so borrowed this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About. Basically, it's about getting a child's perspective on the story inside the book based on just the cover art. It can be hilarious, but it can also be enlightening.

Okay, I totally missed doing these posts with Katie, and it looks like it's been right at a year since our last one. While cleaning recently, I found the folder that I kept her previous iterations in -- all 33 of them! -- so I begged April to see if Aubrey would be up to contributing, too. Lucky for me, she was! =)






This week, the girls are working on the following book:

Title: Golden Son
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Trilogy # 2
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: January 6th, 2015
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.

Behold, the girls' attempts at recreating Golden Son by Pierce Brown...

Aubrey's masterpiece & guess:

Aubrey says:

"I there are dragons. Lot's of them, and they are burning stuff with their fire breath."

Ya know, she's kinda off.. Okay, like really off, but I can see where she would get that idea from the cover. At least the fire part. lol. :)

I read Red Rising last year and it's become one of my favorite books of all time. I'm currently reading this one slowly. The holidays have made that difficult, because there is just so much going on. I refuse to rush through it though, I'm savoring every page, and let me tell you it's phenomenal so far.


Katie's artwork & thoughts:

Katie says:

"A boy sees a wreath that's on fire. Maybe the boy sees a sun that's all gold. I think it's what caught the wreath on fire."

I actually only know very little about this series, but I'm pretty sure it's not about the burning of a wreath, lol. I should also preface this with the fact that before telling me what she thought the book was about, Katie asked, "Is it like a son that you have? Like a baby? Or the sun in the sky?" I thought it was pretty clever of her to ask me to make that distinction. And yet, she included both in her thoughts. :P

Also, aren't their drawings so similar this week?


Have you read this book or do you plan to? What do you think of the girls' artwork and their thoughts on the story's premise?

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Labels: aubrey, beautiful covers, golden son, judging a book by its cover, katiebug, Pierce Brown, random house, Red Rising

Waiting on Wednesday: Golden Son & The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selections are...








's Pick:

Title: Golden Son
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Trilogy # 2 
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Publication Date: January 13th, 2015

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown’s continuing status as one of fiction’s most exciting new voices.

So I read and loved Red Rising last December. It was my favorite book of the year. I cannot freaking wait to read Golden Son. I hope that I will score a galley for this one before January, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. It will be on my kindle the moment it's released though, I can assure you of that! :)

's Pick:

Title: The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion
Author: Chris McCoy
Series: n/a
Publisher: Knopf BFYR
Publication Date: April 14, 2015

It's Superbad meets Spaceballs in this hilarious extraterrestrial road trip!

Just a few days before prom, Bennett pulls off something he never imagined possible: his dream girl, Sophie, agrees to be his date. Moments afterward, however, he watches Sophie get abducted by aliens in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

Faced with a dateless prom (and likely kidnapping charges), Bennett does the only thing he can think of: he catches a ride into outer space with a band of extraterrestrial musicians to bring her back.

Can he navigate alien concert venues, an extraterrestrial reality show, and the band's outlandish egos to rescue his date in time for the big dance? Fans of King Dork and Winger won't want to miss this!

How awesome is that cover? And Superbad meets Spaceballs? That sounds like one hysterical combination. I've seen a few with very early copies of this one and their status updates have been hilarious. I think this one will be a perfect read for me, loving sci-fi and humorous reads as I do.


What are you desperately waiting for this Wednesday? Let us know in the comments or share a link to your own WoW post!

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Labels: beautiful covers, chris mccoy, dystopian, funfunfun, Pierce Brown, post-apocalyptic, random house, Red Rising, sci-fi, the prom goer's interstellar excursion

Review : Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Title: Red Rising
Author: Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Trilogy, book 1
Publisher: Del Rey (Random House)
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Source: received from publisher via NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The war begins... Darrow is a Helldiver, one of a thousand men and women who live in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars. Generations of Helldivers have spent their lives toiling to mine the precious elements that will allow the planet to be terraformed. Just knowing that one day people will be able to walk the surface of the planet is enough to justify their sacrifice. The Earth is dying, and Darrow and his people are the only hope humanity has left. Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. Mars is habitable - and indeed has been inhabited for generations by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. The Golds regard Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought. With the help of a mysterious group of rebels, Darrow disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield. And Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda..

I’m kind of in awe over this book. I had no idea the things it would do to me when I picked it up. Before reading Red Rising, I didn’t hear any hype. I was totally took by surprise. After I finished I realized it had been released on NetGalley last spring and was put back up. I'm so glad I ended up requesting it when I did. It was a spur of the moment thing, I got an email from NetGalley about it, and something told me to jump on it. Thank you so much to the publisher for approving my request.

I’m a huge fan of dystopian books. There is something about this genre that does it for me but Red Rising is so much more than another dystopian novel. During my quick research before requesting Red Rising, I saw that it was compared to Hunger Games, Enders Game and also compared with Game of Thrones. Say what!?! How do you take Dystopian, Sci Fi, Fantasy and mix all that together?

Well, Pierce Brown did, and it’s a melding pot of total freaking awesomeness. I just can’t even!

There is even a little Roman Mythology thrown in there to boot! I’m just floored, really. I figured I would like Red Rising, but I never imagined it would become one of my favorite books of all time. But that’s how it should be right? They sneak up on you!

Now, there are a couple similarities to Hunger Games. Very few, but they are there. Don’t let that discourage you, because after reading Red Rising I felt like Hunger Games was written for pussy’s. No Lie. Hunger Games is one of my Favorite trilogies ever, so it takes a lot for me to say that. 

One downside to Red Rising is the Violence. It’s downright brutal. There are some cringe worthy scenes for sure, but I felt they were necessary to the story. It’s not a pretty world. It’s corrupt as shizz, those golds are crazy. Heck, everyone is crazy. I did not feel like the violence was a bad element, I enjoyed it. It made everything that much more real for me, but I can see where some will be bothered by it. So put your big girl/boy panties on because it's a hard knock life on Mars.

Oh, did I mention this takes place on Mars?!!! Well, it does.. :o) 

The beginning is a little slow, but it picked up pretty fast after you get some back story. It starts out in the mines, where you learn through Darrow how the Reds live. I was brought to tears early on and I won't give any specific details away but have your tissues in hand and ready. 

It's all necessary though, Darrow pulls from all the horrors he's lived through to survive the trials he is faced with later on. And wow, trials does not even begin to describe what goes down. 

The world building was awesome. Especially when you get to the meat of the story. I loved every single thing about this book. Darrow is not perfect. He makes mistakes. Sometimes inhumane mistakes, but deep down you know he's a good person. Sometimes you have to do bad for the better good and I felt that was portrayed perfectly here. He is such a strong character, flaws and all and I fell absolutely in love with some of the side characters. 

I cannot stress enough how much I loved Red Rising. I want everyone to read it! Please, everyone read it so we can talk about it!!!! Pretty freaking please!! lol. 

I have a good friend of mine who pre ordered it on my recommendation so I'm excited to discuss it with her after it comes out. I highly recommend this one. 

About the author:


Pierce Brown spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for his cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. Graduating college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body. So while trying to make it as a writer, he worked as a manager of social media at a startup tech company, toiled as a peon on the Disney lot at ABC Studios, did his time as an NBC page, and gave sleep deprivation a new meaning during his stint as an aide on a U.S. Senate Campaign. Now he lives in Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre. Note to the reader: Always feel free to contact him via his website, twitter, or facebook. He likes people. Except if you're a trollish person. Then he merely puts up with you for the sake of manners and propriety.

Find Pierce:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Read More

Labels: 2014 debut, Del Rey, Pierce Brown, random house, Red Rising, reviews