Tag: Pierce Brown

Oct 1 – 7, 2023 | Little Sparks #22

TemidayoLeave a comment

Greetings!

My week was a blast. I had great food, made delicious baked goods, did some amazing workouts, and had fun catching up with friends.

I hope you have a great week ahead!

Here is my reading highlight:

Golden Son (Red Rising, #2) by Pierce Brown
3 star

I was excited about the series, but it’s not what I expected. While the elements of war, politics, and revenge are intriguing, they are based on human beings’ wickedness and evilness. There isn’t anything wrong with this depiction, and there might be some truth to it, however, I guess I am more hopeful than that.

More specifically, the writing and plot for the first book were much more interesting. It felt like the story was being dragged unnecessarily in the second book (this point is further established by how there’s a 7th book not yet published). The second book depicted a lot of evil, hatred, and malice. The way the story is projected, the other books are going to continue in this trajectory before it gets better.

I’m not willing to spend more time in this curated world and, thus, will not be continuing the series.

Jun 4 – 10, 2023 | Little Sparks #5

TemidayoLeave a comment

With summer comes the smoke and blaze of forest fires and another reminder of the impact of climate change. I hope you are safe where you are.

Here’s my reading highlight for this week:

Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Red Rising Saga #1)
5 stars

The first time I heard of this book, it was described as The Hunger Games x The Game of Thrones on space. That sounded intriguing though I have never read nor watched The Game of Thrones. In the book, we follow the character of the lowest class in the system in pursuit of more leverage/power from the highest class.

The first few chapters were difficult to get into, but I was hooked after that initial friction. I can happily conclude that picking up the book was a great choice (it was much more captivating than The Hunger Games). There were a lot of brilliant strategies from the characters, warfare, cunning behaviour, and romance.

Although I often forgot that the whole story was taking place in space while reading, I was surprised to learn that this book was written in 2014. I was also reading the book when Apple released their Vision Pro, which felt uncannily like the tools used in the book. It feels like we are close to reaching the conditions in the book, living on Mars after deserting Earth. The book made me ponder much about human nature, what it means to have power, and what rule system is best for equality and equity. I will be picking up the next book in the series!

Do note that there are many triggers; there are many brutal scenes in the book, to say the least.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
4 stars

As you may tell, this is the second Claire Keegan book I have read. It was also a short story and delved into adoption/parenthood/human nature. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence or if most of Claire’s books are on these topics.

Nevertheless, it was a heartwarming read. The story felt complete despite being short, which, compared to many of the short stories I have read, is uncommon. It made me reconsider my disposition towards short stories, especially as this is my second short story read this year.

_________

Chat soon!