REVIEW ~ "Blood Red Road"

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description from Goodreads: 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

My thoughts:

This is an incredibly intense, action packed, dystopian adventure. I am reminded of Mad Max and Dune (I think that dates me). The future has gone horribly wrong. Civilization is gone, the written word no longer exists, and many of the population doped up on a drug called Chaal. People are violent and living in primitive conditions.

Saba and her family live in an isolated area away from the dangers of the current society. They live near an almost dried up lake. Her family consists of her older brother, Lugh, a younger sister, Emmi, and her father. Saba and Lugh are twins who just turned 18. A strange storm comes to their home and following the storm riders appear who abduct Lugh and kill her father. Saba vows to find Lugh and save him. The adventure begins. The story takes us through deserts, fight arenas, jail breaks, meeting new friends, and bloody confrontation.

I found the writing style to be very interesting. It is minimal, abrupt, and takes a bit to get used to. I was impressed that the author was able to keep it consistent throughout the novel. It is hard to transition between the different characters.  There is not the punctuation that we are used to letting us know that a different person is speaking. (Thus a four instead of a five rating.)  It is written in the first person from Saba's p.o.v. It uses unique spelling that let us get a feel for the flow of the dialect.

Overall, this is a great book. I loved the strong female characters. I have read reviews where some found it hard to believe the sudden change in Saba. She becomes a fighter overnight. I didn't find that so hard to believe. I think many of us would fight to save the people that we love.  There is violence and mild swearing.

I read a galley from Simon & Schuster to review. This book will be released on June 7th.