This book made me want to go to war. What an exciting hard adventure. This ain't no kiddie book, no sir. Nor is this for the faint of heart or the pacifist. This is nothing like the Hunger Games, as is claimed in many a blurb; to say as much is a fucking insult to the author of this book. That's not to say that the Hunger Games is a bad book, cause it is a good book, but it is not the same as this, and he doesn't need the comparison to sell this story. I hate when they do that... 
 The book begins in the dystopian society, something archaic, like your run of the mill dystopia novel. But Brown flips the script, says fuck it, and sends Darrow, our protagonist, careening on a crash course into the very society that has enslaved them. What he finds is a people who are disgustingly spoiled, and excessively violent and backstabbing. A culling system places Darrow in what amounts to a game of war disguised as learning, for the satisfaction of the heads of house who think themselves gods among men. 
 This book feels raw, and Darrow all but bleeds with arrogance, brutality, anger, drive, and fire. Everything about him is red, rage. The symbolism of it pervades his story. 
 Although Katniss and Darrow are starting in similar places- poor, starved, desolate, and undervalued, then thrust into the killing fields- Darrow seems more solid, and his flaws are as important as his virtues and positive qualities. I suppose putting teens against each other is where people make the similarities between the two books, but really, I never thought about the Hunger Games at all while reading. All I care about was how Darrow grows into a fearsome dark bloodknight, from naivete to intelligence. He is carved from stone, hard and stubborn. His evolution is all at once frightening, natural, and precarious. You hardly recognize him as the same boy as the one from those mines. 
 The Roman society is brutal and decadent and infuriating, much like the true GrecoRoman gods of mythology. To see them go up against Darrow is satisfying and a bit horrifying as well. Think the game Good Of War. 
 I loved this book, and the next book so far as the excerpt goes is even more exciting. I am eager to read the next to see how Darrow's ambitious arrogant plan plays out. I hope he doesn't fall from his perch, but who knows?