Review: Morning Star – Pierce Brown

Posted 9 February, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 32 Comments


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Review: Morning Star – Pierce BrownMorning Star by Pierce Brown
Series: Red Rising Trilogy #3
Published by Del Rey on 9 February 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Pages: 518
Format: Hardback
Source: Purchase

4.5 Stars

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.
Finally, the time has come.
But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied - and too glorious to surrender.

Morning Star. It blew my mind. My brain is scrambled. My heart is broken. My breath is taken.

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Morning Star is dark, following several different characters, even if a lot of the narration is from Darrow’s perspective. There is treason, suspected treason, politics, war, torture… and there is still a sense of hope in places, where the characters are ready to continue the war if that means the future will be better for those who come after them. However, there are also characters who are ready to continue the war for their own gain, for greed, to make sure the Golds stay on top of the societal pyramid.

The writing is beautiful, even when the subject matter is ugly. Brown paints his storyline in sweeping colors and large strokes, and it’s impossible not to feel as if we’re in the middle of it all, both the heartache and the triumph, the darkness and the possibility of light. I cried. More than once. And I also laughed. More than once. I held my breath, urging the characters I was cheering for to get it done, and to see the end-game. To counteract their enemies while still staying true to themselves.

And I think Morning Star wins the ‘Most vague review’ competition. There is not really a lot I can say without spoiling anything, but I can say I loved this story, it beautifully finishes a trilogy that has kept me thinking about it over the past two years. With characters who may lose themselves in the battle between good and evil, in all the gray areas of life, love and war. And it’s a series I think I will re-read in full now that all the books have been released. Run! Run! Run! to get your own copy, and let yourself be swept into a dangerous world in which nothing can be won in advance.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

I would have thought there to be worse fates than this, but now I know there are none. Man is no island. We need those who love us. We need those who hate us. We need others to tether us to life, to give us a reason to live, to feel.

I don’t remember feeling so frightened before the Iron Rain. Was I braver then? Maybe just more naïve.

And Mustang has. More than that. She’s proven Eo right. And it wasn’t because of me. It wasn’t because of love. It was because it was the right thing to do.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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32 responses to “Review: Morning Star – Pierce Brown

  1. Such an emotional review, Lexxie! Even if it’s vague, you conveyed how much this book (and series) made you feel. And that’s something I dearly love in a story. I may not run today but I will run soon to pick up a copy of Red Rising. 😉
    **BIG HUGS**

  2. “Brown paints his storyline in sweeping colors and large strokes, and it’s impossible not to feel as if we’re in the middle of it all, both the heartache and the triumph, the darkness and the possibility of light” wow! what a beautiful review Lexxie! You are pretty good at this writing thing too! O..M..G now I can’t wait to finish this series!!! Thanks for the great review! LOVE IT!

  3. Guess what ? I have Red rising but haven’t read it yet 😀 (I should copy/paste that sentence, memorize it or something like that, I use it all the time). I wasn’t planning on reading just yet when it was chosen by Kim’s book club on Facebook for february, so I’ll finally, finally ! be reading that series. Good times ahead, it seems 🙂 Your vague review is excellent, as usual, bisous !

  4. I still need to dive into my copy of Red Rising so I just skimmed your review here Lexxie^^ I wanted to know what you thought of the conclusion! I’m really happy that you loved it and vague reviews are almost necessary at the end of a series aren’t they?! Thanks for sharing your thoughts here and have a wonderful week ♥

    Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews recently posted: Review: Illuminae
  5. It’s hard to review a last book in the series without giving anything away. But even thought it’s vague, I do think you express how much you enjoyed this book well. I don’t read a lot of dystopia’s anymore as I am not always in the mood for the dark books. I do like that how in this type of books the ending seems even sweeter after everything they did to fight for it. I might have to give this series a try once, it sounds good! Great review Lexie!

  6. You are so making me want to read this series but I am not a big SciFi girl. Your enthusiasm is contagious! 🙂 I saw you bought the audio books for this, I would be curious to see what you think of those I might be able to follow along better listening than reading.
    I skimmed the review since it’s book 3 but I know you don’t do spoilers.
    Great Review Lexxie (the parts I did read) 😉

    Michelle@Because Reading recently posted: My To-Be Read List ~ And the Winner is….
  7. Ok I have skipped your review as I have still to read this, as soon as my ARC arrived I decided to re-read the entire series and am half way through Morning Son. But I wanted to see what you thought and those stars look good, I can’t wait to read it!

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