Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Title: Blood Red Road

Author: Moira Young

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Imprint of Simon & Schuster)

Published: June 7, 2011

Pages: 459

My Rating: 3.5/5

Misc.: First in trilogy

 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.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

My Review:

I am going to start off by saying that I did not like the beginning of this book.  There's just something about books where the main character is alone and on a long journey that my brain just does not like. I guess it's the lack of contact with other people. Hmm. Maybe. Anyways, I was tempted to just stop reading at one point. But I'm glad I didn't.

The writing style is... different... in this book. While that may bother some people, I actually had no problem with it. I thought it added more to the story. The narrator, Saba, is telling the story as if she were speaking regularly. This means that throughout the book, words are spelled how Saba would pronounce them and sentences are often grammatically incorrect. However, this gave Saba a powerful voice.

Okay, that aside, Saba was a strong character. Which I loved. What I did not love, however, was how she treated other people, like her sister. I kept hoping that at some point in the story, she would actually be nice to someone. I was happy to see her character progress throughout the story. As I said before, I didn't like the beginning of the book. That was partially because of Saba's attitude. But again, I'm glad I kept reading because then I wouldn't have met all the other awesome characters in this book. In all, pretty much every character was kick-ass and tough and just awesome.

What saved the book for me was the action in the second half of the book. This again, was partially due to the kick-ass characters Saba meets. Which includes the dangerous Free Hawks and Jack, who is sarcastic, witty, tough, and just brilliant. I like how the book played out. It didn't end on a cliffhanger, but it definitely left room for a sequel. I'd be willing to check out the sequel and get more of Saba, Jack, and whatever they get themselves into.