Red Rising by Pierce Brown

5 stars!

I completely understand the hype for this series now. This book changes the game for dystopian / futuristic stories in my life now. The plot is everything you want from a "low class infiltrating high class society" trope, everything you want from the underdog trope, and everything you need that makes you work for a satisfying ending. It's well paced and has the perfect amount of slow / fast, heart breaking / action packed, romance / war, interspersed between the over arcing story line. These are the types of characters that grow on you over time, that you struggle with along the way and are screaming for their triumph in the end. Can't wait to get my hands on book two and hope they continue to live up to the standard set by this book!