Friday, January 6, 2012

Review: Blood Red Road

Details:
Title: Blood Red Road
Author: Moira Young
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pub Date: June 2011
Genre: Dystopia
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.
-- Goodreads
My Thoughts:
A friend of mine went on and on about how amazing Blood Red Road is several months ago. Usually we have similar tastes, so I figured I better add it to my to-read list. And I was itching to read a dystopia (I’ve been reading a lot of books outside my comfort zone lately instead of just reading every dystopia I can find).
Blood Red Road was amazing -- probably one of the top five of this year for me, maybe even top two. The characterization is wonderful, the writing was really good, and the whole world was crafted beautifully. I almost have nothing bad to say about the novel. My only critique is that sometimes Saba felt young to me, several years younger than her eighteen years. But these moments were very brief and also could be easily explained by her sheltered life before her brother Lugh is taken.

Back to the good stuff. Saba is one of my favorite female characters. I loved that she was sort of a mean girl. Yes, she is doing everything thing she can to get her twin brother back, but she can’t stand her little sister and is at times horrible to her. This strained relationship made her feel more real to me and less like an untouchable hero character. Beyond her strong and flawed personality, I loved her relationship with Jack. I don’t to say too much or give anything away, but I loved her reactions to the possibility of a boy liking her. I’m pretty sure I laughed out loud during several of their scenes together.

Saba’s world was so wonderfully crafted. I could totally picture the dustlands, the gladiator arena, everything. The setting, as well as all the crazy characters were so well written that I was quickly and totally pulled into the book. I read the whole book in a few sittings and took an extra long lunch at work so I could finish the book. I can’t wait for the next book to come out.

On a side note I got to meet the lovely Moria Young at Wordstock this year. She is one of the nicest, friendliest authors I met so far. So if she’s doing an reading in your area go see her. And congratulations to Moria for winning the Costa Children's award!

4 comments:

  1. I've read nothing but good reviews for this book. I definitely need to get it already. Nice review! (:

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  2. Wow , great review. Can't belive you also met the author - how exciting!!

    Jessica from Booked Up!
    http://www.bookedupbloggers.blogspot.com/

    :) xxx

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  3. Great review, I'm a new follower! This book sounds like something I would really enjoy reading.

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  4. I loved your review! I have been wanting to read this one for a long time and I just haven't got to it, I have heard great things about it! Have a great day!

    your newest follower,
    Kristin

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