Blood Red Road

Review Time! Blood Red Road by Moira Young is a 2011 Debut, it’s another one of them that I didn’t get around to reading until now and I guess better late than never right? I’ve read plenty of reviews on this book and most of them have said that it’s fantastic, therefore I had to see for myself. Thanks to Scholastic for the review copy ;)

(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.

The Short Story? – A post-apocalyptic adventure that blew my mind! Young has written a fantastic debut filled with action, romance and badass characters. A clever plot, a strong heroine and a romance like no other, Young has taken dystopian fiction to a whole new level! Different and entertaining, Blood Red Road is perfect for all the Hunger Games fans out there!

The Long Story? – Reading Blood Red Road actually took a little getting used to. To fit in with the perception that the people of the future are uneducated, the spelling and the punctuation is atrocious. There are no speech marks, so dialogue kind of runs together and you have to separate it. It was also a slow start, the action didn’t start until 100 or so pages into the novel however those first 100 pages were important to build-up the setting and the atmosphere. Young has bought in a lot barbaric behavior that suggests a social backwardness and a dystrophic setting. All I can say is that all the stops and starts I had with the writing and the start were SO worth! I couldn’t put it down. After the adventure was underway, there was not a single boring moment. It’s was one fight to another. Action-packed and absolutely heart-pounding. For Hunger Games fans!

The characterization suggests that these people are quite gritty. Along with their social backwardness, their clothes, their food and their manners have all suggested that people have reverted to how they lived in the Middle Ages. Saba was an ideal heroine, firstly because she actually did something (multiple somethings) that was heroic. Her attitude towards other people really improve throughout the novel, she starts off isolating herself from others, believing that she only needed her brother and throughout the novel she learns that it’s okay for others to help and that friends are necessary. It was a real 180 in the character development. Jack was a perfect love interest and journey companion. He is like the Jace Wayland of the future. He’s funny, he’s witty and he’s really sweet when he wants to be. I’m keen to see where the romance leads because it was really good!

Blood Red Road is a phenomenal debut about a journey to save ones brother in a dystrophic world. Filled with adventure, badass fights and romance scenes that make you want to swoon, Blood Red Road is a perfect combination of danger and adventure. Young has written a novel like no other (quite literally with the writing style :P) and has taken dystopian fiction to a whole new level! Two thumbs up!

What’s its Worth? – Hand over the Paycheck/Break out the Piggy Bank

Badass Bookie xx