2023 Reread: 
I enjoyed Red Rising much more this time around. Even having only read the first trilogy, that knowledge brings a lot of depth and anticipation to Red Rising. I found the institute section much more enjoyable this time round than the first time. It definitely has pacing issues, but I really enjoyed my read.

I had kinda mixed feelings about Red Rising. I found the concept super interesting (a utopia/dystopia with a social class system based on Plato's Republic). I felt like the pacing was a bit off for me. Sometimes it was repetative and took a long time to get anywhere and then other times things moved super fast and it was very engaging. I loved when we slowed down to get worldbuilding information, but I think that shows that I was more interested in the society than Darrow. I was also not a huge fan of the writing style, which is a little choppy and occasionally info-dump-y, but it didn't bother me a ton. I think I'll leave 3 stars for this one because I did stay engaged most of the time and I hear that a lot of the quirks get worked out in the next book so I do plan to continue on.