Published by: Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Pages: 459
Grade: B
GoodReads Synopsis: 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.
Review: This book has really been hyped, and I've been dying to read it. I would say, overall, that the hype is valid! I thought it was great! A Quest of epic proportions.
I found this book very challenging in the beginning. For lack of a better explanation, it was written in "hillbilly". For example:
"It was all set in the stars the moment the world began. The time of yer birthin, the time of yer death. Even what kinda person yer gonna be, good or bad."
The other part of the writing that was challenging was that there were no quotation marks around the dialog...so you couldn't just pick it out by sight.
*Confession Time - Some authors spend a lot of time describing things, which I don't have a ton of patience for! So I tend to skim over those descriptions.*
Because there were no quotation marks it forced me to read every word so I didn't miss any dialog. The writing took a little bit of time to get used to, but it fit with the story, so it was tolerable. BUT, the beginning was very slow. I worried that I'd made a huge mistake in choosing to read the book but kept going anyway. I was glad I did...the story really picked up, for me, about 50-75 pages in and I was totally engrossed.
What I did like was Saba...her strength and obstinance, I saw myself in her. I loved watching her grow and change from the "what I want" immature girl, to the strong, forward thinking yet fallible young woman.
Overall I thought this was a wonderful adventure with great characters. I believe it's planned as a trilogy. I'm hopeful the subsequent books are as engrossing as Blood Red Road was.
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