Parent reviews for Red Rising (2024)

Common sense media couldn't tell a good book if it hit them in the face. Pierce Brown paints a masterful picture with his writing, creating an in-depth world full of complex characters and a compelling plot line drawing elements from literary classics such as Lord of the Flies, Ender's Game, The Prince, Catcher in the Rye, and Brave New World but is unique in it's own right. What results is a smart and entertaining novel on many levels that showcases the best and worst of human nature. It might be classified as a young adult novel and children will find it entertaining because of the action packed plot but it can be enjoyed by those of any age due to it's actual literary elements and moral questions it poses. This book is equal parts pleasure reading and literature. (I'm using literature in a serious sense, this book could be taught in a high school english class and no teacher would bat an eye, something that can't be said about any YA novel written in the last decade.)I don't understand the issues the reviewer has with the book, one that avoids the archetypal young adult tropes that makes most of the genre unreadable by anyone other than emotionally deluded teenage girls, and whose originality puts shallow commercial hits this website seems to love, such as Divergent and The Hunger Games, to shame. Seriously, every reputable source for literary reviews gives this book either a 4 or 5 star rating yet somehow it gets 2 here. Then again though who in their right mind would listen to a website that gives a 3/5 on sex because the main character is married and "they presumably share an adult sex life." The violence in this book isn't graphic or glorified and sure there is language but nothing a kid wouldn't hear daily (and use) from middle school up. Common Sense Media and parents who follow their "enlightened" advice truly believe their children to be little angels who don't understand the world that we live in and can't handle anything but fairy tales!(On a side note, I wouldn't be surprised if some fairy tales got a not for kids rating from this website considering how uptight it is.)I had thought that this site couldn't be any more of a joke but this clearly hypocritical review in comparison with it's worship of other YA works that can barely even be called novels and bashing of actual literature has proved me wrong.

This book is definitely for people who love down to Earth Si-Fi. This book has some hard humer; but a must. Yall who love outer space, Future Milky Way Galaxy, Anger, happyness, and contentment, then read this Trilogy. A definite 5 star.

While this book does have some pretty heavy themes I think it is an excellently written story and we'll suited for most teens. I disagree with CSMs rating for sexual content. There is only one fade to black scene at the beginning of the book between married characters that is not explicit in any way. There is a lot of relatively minor language nothing worse than any teen would hear in the real world and the violence while very prominent isn't glorified and serves the story well. The series accurately represents the violence and moral delimmas faced in a revolutionary setting which while heavy is not something that should always be removed from media.

The story is incredible, gripping, and thought-provoking. I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t put it down. The characters are interesting and three-dimensional. It’s an entertaining read and shines an unforgiving light on human nature.That said, it is not a book for kids or even young teens. It’s very violent (though the violence is not glorified and it serves a purpose), and the baser aspects of humanity are bluntly showcased. Thematically, the content is heavy and might be too much for young readers. And for my religious readers, I also want to point out that, though many other aspects of culture are explored or even briefly mentioned, there is no religion whatsoever. God is completely absent; it’s as if the characters have never given more than a passing thought to Him (which they definitely would have, given the premise and the extent of their education). To the extent that religion is present, it is used as a means for the upper classes to control the lower ones.

teddyd15 Parent of 5 and 13-year-old

Definitely more intense and violent than The Hunger Games books, and sexual violence/rape is mentioned, but never described in detail.

Red rising shocked me when I read it, from the marriage age for girls being 14 to the caste system designating ‘Brown’ people as servants, ‘pink’ people as sex workers and sex slaves, I was not thrilled with this book. I would recommend that parents read this book before letting their children read it to made sure it’s not including anything you wouldn’t want them to see.

Society often overlooks the collateral damage it inflicts on those less fortunate. This book highlights the conflicts that can arise in both authoritarianism and democracy. Darrow, the main character, can best be described as a Byronic hero thrust into a den of wolves.

Paul T. Parent of 4 and 6-year-old

The Red Rising trilogy is a work of hard adult science fiction. It is masterful in characterization, plotting and world building. The Society is quite oppressive and merciless, however, it's a necessary backdrop to explore the characters and propel the story. Part of Darrow's journey is his struggle to keep his soul and find the humanity in his apparently soulless enemies. It's not a series for kids, any more than Game of Thrones is for kids. At some point, I think it may have been marketed as "YA," which was a mistake. I will definitely recommend these books to my kids once they enter their teen years.

I'm not entirely sure why the official 'expert' reviewer gave this book such a bad rating. The summary states that the violence is incessant, which, while true, serves as a valuable exposition to the values and society of the ruling class. Red Rising and the ensuing trilogy are some of my favorite books to date. I would say there is a sizable amount of violence in the book, I wouldn't say there is 'too much', but keep in mind it is a book similar to Hunger Games.