YMMV / Red Rising

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • This post on Goodreads makes a fairly compelling argument for the idea that Roque was The Mole for The Jackal from the very beginning.
  • With Pierce Brown's indication that several characters are bisexual, is Sevro's loyalty to Darrow just regular Undying Loyalty or does he secretly have a crush on Darrow?.
  • The same can be asked of Tactus, who is confirmed as bisexual and briefly flirted with Darrow in the first book. Not to mention the fact that the scene in Golden Son where he and Darrow reconcile before his Redemption Equals Death moment feels almost like the Make Up of a Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario.
  • It's debated among fans whether or not Mustang knew she was pregnant with Pax when Darrow told her the truth about who he really was.
  • While Tactus' brother Tharsus only has a few lines at the end of Morning Star, fans on Reddit are split on whether his questions about Darrow's friendship with Tactus were a derogatory remark about Tactus being bisexual, or, given what has already been described of how Tactus' family treated him, if Tharsus was implying that Tactus had been raped by at least one of his brothers. The amount of Incest Subtext between Tharsus and their older brother Appolonius in Iron Gold only adds fuel to the fire.
• Base-Breaking Character: Roque. Some rate him the weakest of Darrow's post-Institute contemporaries and consider their dynamic underwhelming next to those our hero forges with Sevro, Cassius, and Mustang. These readers generally liked his turn as a villain and felt it made him a more compelling character. Others despised that plot development and found his subsequent behaviour too unsympathetic to swallow Darrow's posthumous extolling of the man.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Pax au Telemanus, whose hammy nature and tragic death made him a fan-favorite despite him being solely in the first book.
• Evil Is Cool: The Jackal is a sociopath to the core, and an utterly vile human being, but he's exceptionally well-spoken, intelligent and determined, capable of outwitting almost any other Gold and entirely willing to cut his own hand off with a dry remark and a wince.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The Time Skips between each book are prime material for fanfiction.
  • Lots of secondary and tertiary characters have their own adventures off screen in between chapters, leaving what they're up to ripe for interpretation via fanfiction.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Pierce's reveal that Tactus is Bisexual can cause some viewers to interpret his already tragic death as a retroactive case of Bury Your Gays.
  • Darrow's descriptions of Roque's behavior around Tactus when he remeniscenes their time at the Academy indicate that Roque was in love with Tactus.
• Ho Yay: The scene where Darrow and Tactus reconcile before the latter's Redemption Equals Death moment can come across as as the second half of a Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario. Were it not for the fact that Word of God confirms Darrow isn't attracted to men, (unlike Tactus), it would be seen as ship tease.
• Jerk Ass Woobie: Tactus au Rath. He's a Functional Addict who cheerfully insults everyone around him, spends all his free time in strip clubs, and will gladly throw his friends under the bus to boost his own standing. He also has a whole mess of deep-seeded insecurities fueled by years of Parental Abuse, along with emotional bullying (and implied sexual abuse) from his brothers, and ultimately wants to be with his friends. And when he finally does choose his friends, he suffers a case of Redemption Equals Death.
• Growing the Beard: While fans generally enjoy Red Rising, it's not especially groundbreaking as far as YA sci-fi novels go. Golden Son is where most agree the series found it's footing with greatly improved worldbuilding, story and character work.
• LGBT Fanbase: The series as a strong one helped by the fact that several supporting characters are canonically gay or bisexual, and that the series treats this as normal.
• Magnificent Bastard: Fitchner au Barca is secretly the mysterious Ares, leader of the Sons of Ares. Once the runt of his family, Fitchner becomes a military leader among the high-class Gold society. Having fallen in love with a Red who was murdered by Golds, and left with only his half-blooded son, Fitchner declares war on the the Society, founding the Sons of Ares, trying to help the lower classes, and being entirely willing to cut moral losses and commit terrorist acts. Taking up numerous apprentices and choosing Darrow of Lykos to be his successor, Fitchner continues to deceive and manipulate his way through the Society, ruthless and brutal yet nonetheless helping his charges make their own ways through. Making his way into being the bodyguard of the Sovereign, Octavia au Lune, Fitchner only reveals his deception to save Darrow's life at the last moment, before being killed due to one of the Sons betraying him to the Golds. While a ruthless individual, Fitchner's machinations eventually allow for the destruction of the Society and the liberation of the lower classes.
• Memetic Badass: Darrow is one both in-universe and out.
• Memetic Mutation: Wanking off in the bushes.
• Sci Fi Ghetto: An odd example. On one hand, both Red Rising and Golden Son were adored by sci-fi and mainstream critics, with many putting them on "Best of" lists at year's end and proclaiming them to be the next The Hunger Games. Sadly, the public seems to have tired of dystopian sci-fi starring teenage protagonists somewhat, as evidenced by relatively disappointing sales.