If you’ve never used Twitter to yell at your friend about a book you’re both reading, you haven’t truly lived.
You may remember last fall I read Pierce Brown’s Red Rising. In early January, the second book in that series, Golden Son, was released into the wild for my friend Brooke and I to read. [AND FOR YOU THESE BOOKS ARE AWESOME GO READ THEM.]
Even a week before the release date, she resumed taking shots at Eo, the [minor spoiler redacted] wife of protagonist Darrow:
@txtingmrdarcy Eo is the jewel of all creation. YOU WILL SHOW SOME RESPECT.
— Chris Hannas (@cjhannas) December 30, 2014
Eo remains an inspiration to Darrow in Golden Son, guiding him on his quest to “break the chains” of a society that subjugates everyone in a system of colors with their Reds on the bottom and Golds on top. Darrow is trying to infiltrate the Golds and burn the house down from within, beginning with competing at an academy for elite young leaders under the flag of his benefactor.
“He’d have me win for him, but I’d win for the Red girl with a dream bigger than she ever could be,” Darrow says. “I’d win so that he dies, and her message burns across the ages.”
EO. At one point Darrow goes into the underbelly of a city to meet with someone and sees Eo celebrated by the lower classes in graffiti.
“How cruel a life, that the sight of my dead wife means hope,” he says.
This scene set off a 12-tweet burst about Eo vs. Mustang, the other main female in Darrow’s life and one that Brooke much prefers.
@cjhannas what takes more courage- dying with nothing to lose or tearing down the system from the top?
— Brooke Shelby (@txtingmrdarcy) January 18, 2015
It didn’t help when Darrow’s mother weighed in:
“‘I never liked Eo,’ she says quietly.
I twist my head up to look at her.
‘Not for you. She could be manipulative…'”
Whatever, mom. EO FOREVER.
After we furiously talked about the INSANE way the book ends, the author saw our exchange and responded with what I’m considering a virtual mic drop:
@txtingmrdarcy @cjhannas Hic Sunt Leones, bitches.
— Pierce Brown (@Pierce_Brown) February 5, 2015
And now we have to wait more than a year to read how it all ends. Plenty of time for you to catch up and join the conversation. Next year you can taunt me on Valentine’s Day too!
@cjhannas Mustang is Gold, and Darrow’s a Red/ Eo can’t be your Valentine/Because she is—
— Brooke Shelby (@txtingmrdarcy) February 14, 2015