As a whole, I thought The Red Rising series was fantastic - full of great characters, vivid world building and so much heart. Alas, I felt the final book could have been reduced by AT LEAST 100 pages. There was too much focus on plots within plots, battle after battle and so many extraneous characters that I could care less about. But, the most compelling part of the book (the story of Darrow and his closest friends) rose to the top in the end and I was glad I persevered. All's well that ends well.

(For more reviews and bookish musings: http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/)