I really wanted to love Morningstar, but the ending ultimately left me disappointed. Throughout the book, the characters seemed to waffle constantly between motives, and that back-and-forth made it difficult to stay fully invested in their journeys. Instead of adding depth, the indecision ended up cheapening the story for me.

I also found it surprisingly difficult to visualize many of the battles and technology. The scale and mechanics often felt abstract rather than immersive, which pulled me out of the action more than once. In fact, this may be one of the rare books that I think would work better as an HBO adaptation seeing the world, tech, and battles brought to life visually might provide the clarity and emotional weight that the text didn’t quite deliver.

By the time I reached the conclusion, the resolution just wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped.

It fixes all of my problems with the first book and answers every mystery and clue while still introducing new ones, unlike the original. The smut is better placed, less clunky, and the story finally shines as a true Pearson narrative. It’s less violent and more focused on how court intrigue and politics affect the people within the court, and how secrets, pride, and fear reshape their relationships, all while remaining a riveting and heartbreaking fantasy story.

This reads more like a SciFi than fantasy and is very very dense. A good and worthy read but you’ll truly not understand anything until about halfway through the book and then it’s gonna hook you in and rip your heart out by the end

This is worse bastardization of DCC, extremely repetitive, boring and a snooze fest

I’ll never recover. It’s everything everyone has ever said. I cried, laughed, shit my pants and more. You have to read it

I can’t believe how hard Red Rising pulled me out of my book slump. If you love the intense world-building of Will of the Many or the immersive coming-of-age magic of Harry Potter, this is absolutely for you, just imagine it with more blood, rebellion, and a brutal Roman-inspired society set in space. If you’ve been craving a story that reignites your love for reading, Red Rising is the spark you’ve been waiting for.