Red Rising by Pierce Brown

In the future, humanity has settled throughout the solar system. Humanity has been divided into colours, with Gold ruling and the Reds slaves. Each colour knows its place until a ruling Gold hangs a young Red. This starts the beginning of a rebellion. Darrow, the husband of the murdered woman, gives up his humanity to be transformed into a Gold.

Sent to the Institute with other young Golds, he must learn to fight and survive in a society that awards only the strong. Only by winning does he gain admittance to the society so that he might strike from within.

This story has everything. Humour, action galore, betrayal, loyalty and romance. I listened to the audio version which came to life under the expert narration of Tim Gerald Reynolds. I ate up the first three novels in non-stop marathon reading.