Author: Moira Young
Series or Stand-alone:
Book in the Dust Land Series
How I got it:
From my local library
Pages: 459
From my local library
Pages: 459
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopia/ Post-Apoclatic
Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.
Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.
Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.
OPINION:
Skimming through Blood Red Road in the library, the nearly put this awesome book right back in its place. Was this English? No quotation marks to indicate speech? Weird half words and conjunctions? I was getting a headache just thinking about the effort it would take to read it....
Luckily, I took it anyway --just in case I didn’t like anything else I grabbed. This decision was one that deserves a giant pat on the back.
I LOVED THIS BOOK.
Why? Well, there is a kick-ass heroine with faults but genuine growth throughout the story. And she has more interest in her family than a guy. But of course there was a love interest with loads of personality. Oh, Jack....You better not be missing in the next book cause I will scream and cry.Basically, the story starts with Saba and her family in their isolated home. No neighbors for miles and miles leaves for a lot of time of bickering between siblings (peoples be needed some counseling...just saying). When a strange storm blows in bringing some strange men with it, Saba's twin brother Lugh is kidnapped. Lugh is everything to Saba so she strikes out to save her brother. Unfortunately for Saba, she is left in charge of her younger sister who she has never quit connected with. Regardless of the problems, here the journey begins to find Lugh....
The plot was full of adventure and it never had a dull moment. It was a little gory and rough but I really enjoy books that don’t skim the hard stuff. There is a lot of fighting. Saba is a little fireball and fights follow her around! So if you're not into that then probably skip this one. I loved the people she meets along the way. There are some badass women in this novel which was awesome. Even more awesome is that there were a lot of men who appreciated their badassness.
I have to admit, it took me the entire first chapter to get use to the language but after that I read it perfectly fine minus a few sentences that needed to be re-read. Another problem I had was I thought the reason for Saba's brother's kidnapping was a little strange and not explained very well. It felt like a journey was needed without Lugh so his kidnapping was thrown in to get it going but it made little sense. It wasn't a problem enough to ruin the story, however.
I have to admit, it took me the entire first chapter to get use to the language but after that I read it perfectly fine minus a few sentences that needed to be re-read. Another problem I had was I thought the reason for Saba's brother's kidnapping was a little strange and not explained very well. It felt like a journey was needed without Lugh so his kidnapping was thrown in to get it going but it made little sense. It wasn't a problem enough to ruin the story, however.
OVERALL:
If you are already sick of dystopians, I beg you to give this book a try anyway. It was original and fun. You won't regret it!* --10 out of 10.
*This is no guarantee. Don't sue me or yell at me ;-P
