Author: Moira Young
Release Date: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: McElderly Books (Simon & Schuster)
Pages: 459
Edition: Hardcover
Goodreads: Link
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.
If you haven't read this book, I suggest you go out RIGHT NOW and buy it. I'm not even kidding, i'm so sad I didn't read this boo k last year to have put it on my Top Ten List.
Blood Red Road follows Saba on a journey across the Dustlands to rescue her twin brother Lugh whose been kidnapped and taken far, far away from her. Writers, take notes. Saba is an amazing heroine and possibly my favorite part of the novel. She was fearless and flawed and I loved reading every minute of her dangerous and heart-wrenching story. What I loved about Saba was simply this: she was built to survive. She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, sacrifice things, or even mess up herself to help the people she loved and get what she wanted. But she was also emotionally detached and way too used to living in her brother's shadow and sometimes mean and stubborn and I loved watching her open up to the people she kept trying to push away throughout the book. (I especially loved everything in Hopetown, which is where we really see her come to life.)
And man, does Saba take on some unlikely companions in her journey. We have Emmi, her little sister that she completely resents, who follows her no matter how many tries Saba tries to leave her behind. Epona and Ash, who were funny and brave and the Free Hawks sounded like just about the biggest, baddest girls I've ever seen. Ike, who is the one who said the quote above and is my favorite, just for being one of the most loyal characters I've ever read about. Even Nero, Saba's bird (who is much more human than bird, I can tell you that) was completely kickass and intelligent. And most of all? The loyalty. Every person in this novel is interconnected in some way and the fierce and devoted trust they have for each other over the course of the novel is heartfelt and sincere.
The world-building is beautiful. Moira does not have complicated and long prose, which makes her writing stark and fast-paced. You'll never be bored because with the way she writes, the stakes are always high and there's anyways something to lose. Now, the thing is about the writing is this: it's written in Saba's dialect. Now I didn't think I was going to be able to look past this (after all, the reason I don't like Nate from Eyes Like Stars is because he talks like a pirate) but the second you're sucked into Saba's journey, you hardly even notice. You're much too busy rooting her on!
And then we have Jack and Saba and GUYS. Seriously. The slow building of this relationship just made me swoon. They were sweet and sad and he was just essential in breaking Saba out of her shell. He wasn't pushy but he tested her boundaries, made her think in ways she hadn't really expected herself too, and made her reevaluate the things she thought were important, which I think was necessary for her to come to the revelations she did about herself. And guys? Cave scene? It's only like a page long and I was fanning myself.
MUST READ! Happy Reading!
