Golden Son (Purple Rising Sequence)

)** I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES TO EVERY SINGLE READER I KNOW
**Will contain spoilers in my review. I need to get as much down so when the last book comes out next year I remember enough of the pertinent details, not that I actually think I could forget anything about this book but just in case :)**I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES TO EVERY SINGLE READER I KNOW! As a matter of fact I’m going on Amazon to buy these two books in hardcover so I can have them on my shelves… so very exciting!Very rarely do I come across a book (or book series) that seriously keeps me up at night. Rarely do I come across a book that give me continuous dreams. Rarely do I wake up thinking of characters and plots several days after finishing the book. Rarely do I take so long to think of exactly WHAT I want to put in my review because every little thing is super important.But when I do? I know I’ve struck literary Gold (no pun intended).There was really only one thing I didn’t absolutely love about this book. One thing, but yet I found myself coming up with excuses / reasons why it was totally acceptable. The book is first person, Darrow’s point of view, so therefore it is acceptable for us to believe that we will see and know all Darrow see’s and knows. There are a few instances of us finding something out with the rest of the characters instead of knowing ahead of time. One I could almost excuse, the training, it happens between the books, in the time that is only remembered but not shown. There is a lot that happens between the Institute and the Academy and we are only briefly told of what happened in that down time. So, I can almost excuse the MASSIVE item of the training by Lorn (Rage Knight)… almost. But thing that are happening as we’re reading? Tracking Aja, etc, those are things we should know with him, not as it happens to others around us.Now, with that being said. Holy Moly, what a book. To compare this to other existing dystopian books is to compare a cat to a dog, sure they’re both living, sure they both do most of the same things but they are totally different species. Golden Son continues Darrow’s journey from a Red or slave of society to one of the elite Golds and boy does he become an elite Gold. The total loyalty or utter contempt he draws from everyone around him exceeds anything else I’ve ever read. The web’s he’s weaving to break the Society from the inside are masterful and so well thought out they almost seem reckless when put into action. But Fate favors the bold and if nothing else Darrow is Bold.Darrow is slowly going crazy with a. his guilt about loving Mustang, who is CLEARLY the exact opposite of EO b. betraying his friends, which ultimately he’s going to have to do c. lying to so many people to maintain his facade d. not knowing what’s going on with The Sons of Aries since it’s been years since anyone has contacted him e. the thought that he’d have to betray the Sons if he wants to continue on HIS mission, which now seems far away from the group as run by Harmony and so many others.When the story comes back Darrow is in league to win at the Academy, which is yet again another testing ground for these Golds to prove themselves to the Society. Darrow is once again plotted against by people in power and continues to shine but in the end loses because he is beaten, both in the game and physically after the game by the Bellonas. They win by means of cheating which is something that is acceptable to the Golds as a Society but not to Darrow.He wins favor back by quite literally starting a Civil War when he exposes a plot by the Sovereign to exterminate the ArchGovernon and his entire staff at a Gala. AFter foiling that plan and starting a war with the Bellona’s AND the Sovereign he finds new ally’s in his friends and their extended families. In doing this he further alienates some key friends from the Institute which will ultimately be his demise.Darrow FINALLY declares his love for Mustang and he trusts her to show her his true past and humble beginnings. We’re still not sure how Mustang reacts as she walks away from Darrow in the end and we don’t see her. We’re left wondering if she is the one who betrays him to her brother the Jackal or if it’s someone else. I’m honestly hoping and praying it’s someone else because Virginia truly seems like a worthy Gold to rule with her sense of kindness and loyalty. Although, I think now we’re seeing how far that kindness and loyalty will go now that she knows Darrow was/is a lowly Red only disguised as a Gold.Fitchner / Sevro / Aries. Can we say goryhell, what was THAT!?!? I LOVE that Fitchner was Aries. His story was heartbreaking and truly touching. The fact that Sevro is TRULY a Son of Aries and a mixbreed? I wonder how many others there are! How exciting! I was left with all kinds of questions in relation to this though. I’m wondering how the colors came about and such. It is mentioned that when humans went to the Moon and Mars they were genetically motified to create the color scheme. I’m assuming some pretty strong ass genetic modifying would be involved to turn someone Pink or Violet, etc and also to modify the reproductive systems so there could be no breeding between colors. This is a leap of faith for me, that whole sci-fi thing I struggle with because it’s outside my realm of reality, but I’m working on it. So… in order for the colors to breed you have to go to a carver and have them modify the reproductive systems to they woman can handle the mixed breeding… very interesting… also very interesting that this is apparently happening all over the planets but the Society is killing anyone who does it, the modification, or the actually trying. The fact that Sevro is a TRUE mixed breed is what is most awesome. My only fear is that people (higher levels) look down on Sevro because he is not a high bred Gold, so that part of society will never respect him enough to follow him. The lowColors will look to him as if he’s a hero, the perfect example of the strength of Gold and the mix of a lowColor. It’s quite the web we have going on here. Quite interesting. Now, very end… I’m wondering like crazy if Jackal KNEW Fitchner was Ares… I’m hoping he doesn’t. I’m hoping that he just killed him because he was a traitor to the Sovereign and he’s trying to gain the Sovereign’s trust and the ArchGovernor-ship of Mars. But the now knowing is KILLING ME!The Jakal… what a well written villain. Convincing, malicious, intent, spoiled, psychotic, the list goes on and on… I’m wondering if he has Mustang somewhere… I’m wondering if Mustang went to him about Darrow, I’m wondering how the hell he found out about Darrow. I have to go back and re-read the last few pages after the betrayal and capture but he says Darrow someone led to his own demise or something of the sort… I know Rogue has suspected him from the beginning, that part has been obvious since the Institute AND Serve told Darrow he couldn’t never tell Rogue or Thistle because they were to entrenched in their own importance and Society… turns out he was exactly right because both of them showed their loyalty to status quo, smart Serve… love him.Lorn… aw Lorn, what a sad damn story. I admired the old man, even if he was entrenched in the Gold way of thinking. I admired his gumption and thought his death unworthy of his life. And Lilith killing him… so not good. She wasn’t’ worthy of that death. Victra also, I really enjoyed her, and her crawling to Darrow in the end seriously just about broke my damn heart. But Rogue, oh Rogue, there is a special place in hell for people like him, Jackal, you expect betrayal, Rogue was terrible.Ragnar! God I loved that character. He utmost FEAR of freedom was truly heartbreaking. I’m waiting for so much more to come from him. I hope he’s safe somewhere and gets together with Sevro and Mustang to rescue Darrow from the Sovereigns nasty grips.When Darrow went home to his mother, wow… so so significant. His mother knowing him right away warmed my heart. Her conditions turned right around and broke it. But her explanation of women and how Darrow needs that, how Women are the ones who create objects, etc is going to be key in the next book I hope because seriously… Mustang has to come back and save him… she has to. It’s her who’s meant to rule, I just know it. I’m quite literally going to be sitting here waiting for the next book and stalking Pierce on every piece of social media he has to try and figure out just that for the next year… I’m so not kidding…I was ever do worried by the fact that Cassius said the Sovereign wanted Darrow alive so they could dissect him… oh so worried by that. Someone please come in and save Darrow from this… I don’t want to watch him be tortured, so not what I want book three to start out as.I’m thinking of rereading this series again, slower and for more detail now that I THINK I have the jest of it. It will most definitely be re-read prior to the third book coming out in January.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SERIES TO EVERY SINGLE READER I KNOW! As a matter of fact I’m going on Amazon to buy these two books in hardcover so I can have them on my shelves… so very exciting!

I don’t know how it could get better than the first one, but it did. It is better than Red Rising, it’s simply a masterpiece

Interesting change in gear & scope, I loved it. Also, incomplete knowledge of what’s going on in the protagonist’s mind is well played out!