Lose Yourself
in a Good Book

The story follows Cara, a stay-at-home mom who is actually a former "Dark Angel" spy. The pacing is a bit of a slow burn at first; it didn’t necessarily have me rushing back to pick it up every spare second, but whenever I did, I was genuinely entertained. The "Duran Duran" trigger, hearing the song The Reflex everywhere, was a clever way to build psychological tension.

This follows Tova, a lonely older woman working nights at a small aquarium, and Marcellus, a brilliant giant Pacific octopus who secretly observes far more than anyone realizes. Their unlikely friendship helps unravel long‑buried family secrets, heal old grief, and connect the lives of people who never expected to find one another.

Pierce Brown doesn’t just write a sequel—he detonates one. Golden Son is a masterclass in escalation, ambition, and emotional devastation, taking everything Red Rising built and launching it into a brutal, operatic war among the stars.