4 Impressed Stars

I can finally say I’ve read this popular book, and I can totally see why it’s worthy of so many accolades.

This is full of all the angst you can imagine that comes with a society with strict, harsh, unrelenting and uncompromising rules. This follows the tale of Darrow who’s at the bottom of the food chain. As a Red, he’s basically a slave, and his “rise” as a Gold, supported by a secret faction who’s trying to destroy the paradigm, is an impossible chance at success.

Darrow’s introduction to the upper echelons of society is far from comfort and excess, as he undergoes a brutal transformation and must not only endure the Institute but survive and actually win against the toughest and smartest of his peers. It’s vital he comes out on top to have a sliver of a hope at bringing it all down from within, but how far will he go and how much of himself will he compromise? To make things even more difficult, he must fight corruption at the highest level that only wants their hand picked favorites to come out on top.

To say the least, this had my stomach in anxiety ridden knots the entire time. This was not a fun read, but it was twisty fast paced and kept me on my toes. Full of uncomfortable emotions and necessary and not so necessary savagery, it’s also a deep dissection on this fictional society’s humanity (or lack thereof), where the grass surely isn’t greener on the other side. Lots of food for thought, and I’m invested enough to see this through!