I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
I was really excited when I saw this book was up on Netgalley again, as I'd heard so much good things about it. Fortunately, it didn't let me down.
Darrow is a Red, a slave in this colour-coded society. He's been told that it is his duty to make Mars a habitable place for the high Colours. But when Darrow learns everything he knows is a lie (and Mars has been inhabited for centuries though the Reds still do the slave work), he wants to take the system down. But to be able to achieve this, he will have to change and become one of them. He has to become one of the Golden boys.
The first half was really original but a bit slow. The story starts with the Reds and you don't get to know a lot about the rest of society. The knowledge develops as Darrow himself learns more about it. The second half read a lot faster, and was basically a mash up between The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson while playing Conquer the Flag. This might seem less original (and it is) but I really liked the way it was done. It was very hard for me (if not impossible) to put the book down and I enjoyed it a lot. The writing was very good for a YA novel.
Some things that stood out for me were some twists I didn't see coming (which is quite special) and the lack of a love triangle! It was so refreshing. I would recommend this novel, and it is really so long till the next book? I can't wait!
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