Blood Red Road Review

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Title: Blood Red Road
Author: Moira Young
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Published: June 7, 2011
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Pages: 400
Source: S&S Galley Grab

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.
Saba lives her life in a barren world with only her father, younger sister and her twin brother to keep her company. Despite the fact that the world is in ruins and they are all each other has, Saba is okay because she knows she will always have them. When a band of unknown savages take her brother from the family though and irreparably damage their small family, Saba has to learn to fight to get him back - not just for her self, but for her little sister. But the world outside of Silverlake is a far cry from home, and it's as savage as it gets. Is she strong enough to do what must be done to save her brother and bring her family back together, or will she become just another bit of rubble littering their world?

Blood Red Road is entirely unlike any book I've ever read in my history of reviewing young adult books. I say this almost completely as a positive thing. Author Moira Young has spun a world that's every bit as dark and dismal as your worst nightmares. There was absolutely nothing in Saba's world that I envied or longed for - in terms of the physical world, itself. With a narrator that's rough around the edges in both dialect and personality, Blood Red Road presented a unique challenge for me. I had to not only learn to understand how Saba spoke, but I had to find the patience to watch her grow because it's in her growth that Blood Red Road comes alive.

Saba begins the book as a bit of a selfish character, in my humble opinion. She loves Lugh, her older brother, but she quite nearly despises her younger sister, Emmie, because her mother died giving birth to her. The relationship she had with her siblings was hard for me to fathom because I, personally, felt it was very self-centered. That said, once the action and plot moved past the basic scene-setting and development and the action began in Blood Red Road, I began to see some depth to her character and that, in turn, made her become more endearing to me. I will, however, state that Blood Red Road got off to a rocky start for me, only because I wasn't expecting the writing style. It's very raw and unpolished, and I struggled to come to terms with the voice, until I got to know Saba. Because of her character and her development, I now feel that the voice made Blood Red Road ring true and made the story more powerful. Furthermore, with a malevolent ruler, a mysterious band of captors and a devilishly handsome romantic interest, Blood Red Road had a bit of everything I loved all packaged in an entirely new story for me.

Despite the difficult beginning, I'm extremely glad I stuck with Blood Red Road. Because the voice is uncommon, I think it has the power to become that much more unique in a very crowded young adult genre. I give it a 4 out of 5, and I highly recommend it to all fans of YA fiction, especially those who enjoy dystopian novels. I also suggest that if you do read it, be patient. It's a slow-burning book that builds in intensity and leads the way for another powerful series.

I received this eARC free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

23 comments:

  1. I read this one the other day and I loved it! I feel like you captured a lot about the book perfectly! I thought the book so brilliantly done! And Saba's growth as a person really made this book for me! Can't wait for the sequel.

    I was expecting the writing style, so it wasn't as hard for me to adjust too, and it's similarly written to Meg Rosoff's how i live now, so having read that before helped too. :) Glad you liked this one also!

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  2. Thank you so much for this review! I've opened this book up so many times, read the first few paragraphs, and then closed it again. I just can't do dialect like that and the idea of it for 500 pages is daunting. I'm so happy to hear that you were able to get past and ultimately embrace the writing style. Maybe I'll try it again. :)

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  3. Blood Red Road is entirely unlike any book I've ever read in my history of reviewing young adult books.

    Wow! I was avoiding this book because I am kind of tired of YA dystopias right now; all of them seem to be so similar to each other. Your review has made me consider giving this book a try.

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  4. I agree completely with what Misha said! It hard to find books that are completely unique. Now I will be definitely giving this a read. Great review Melissa :)

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  5. I started this, but had to put it down. The narrative style was not working for me. This is something I need to have patience for and be in the mood for as well. I'm glad you enjoyed it, and it gives me hope that I will too, once I finally sit down and read it.

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  6. I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I saw it on Galley Grab, but it doesn't appeal to me. It sounds very bleak and that dialect you mentioned is offputting for me, although I am kinda curious now to check it out and see what it's like!

    Great review! :)

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  7. You know, I love the dialect in the book. I thought it was very interesting with the way t hat they talk. Also it reminded me of Gladiator, but only with a girl. I love it! Nice review!

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  8. I really didn't have any interest in this book before, but now I'm thinking I'll definitely have to give it a try!

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  9. I've been thinking about this book a lot, but the dialect/writing style turns me off. I'm wondering if it might be worth the read, though. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. =)

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  10. So the cover matches the story! You can imagine that it would be about a dismal world. And I'm always looking for something new and unique to read. Glad you stuck with it too.

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  11. Yay! A book that I'm looking out for gets 4 out of 5. That's really good. There are so many dissapointing books that I was scared that this would be the same with BRR.
    Great review.

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  12. Thanks for the review Melissa ! I've heard awesome things about this book so I look forward to read this one !

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  13. Now this sounds good..but then I say that about all dystopia books :D

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  14. I've been trying to read the e-galley, and so far I definitely agree with you about the slow start. The dialogue and writing style is difficult to follow, also, but I really like the premise as you put it here. Glad to know it gets much better, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

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  15. I had the e-galley of this and no a lot of time to read it so I kind of gave up >_< I still want to read it, but definitely when I have more time. Everytime I looked at the remaining pages my heart dropped a little lol. I'm glad it was worth the patience though!

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  16. Just the fact that you mentioned that this one is different from anything else you've read makes me want to read it (not to mention you seemed to mostly enjoy it). Thanks for the recommendation, Melissa!

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  17. oh I'm reading this now. I'm glad you mentioned the beginning, because I am having trouble staying invested, but I'll stick with it :)

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  18. REALLY want to read this. I need to....

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  19. I have gone back and forth on this one so many times. I know you love dystopians and I'm not a big fan but you make this one sound like I'll miss out on something. I think if I don't read it now while everyone else is I won't ever. Thanks for your frankness about the beginning. World building and getting used to an author's style can really turn me off. I'll keep in mind the pay off.

    Heather

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  20. I've been worried about the dialect on this one. I struggled at first with The Knife of Never Letting Go and it eventually grew on me because I was so intrigued by the characters and world. I hope this will be the same with Blood Red Road. It's dark and dismal than my worst nightmares huh? Gulp!

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  21. It was definitely a relief that Saba's character developed throughout the story into someone more endearing, because otherwise the story would have been extremely hard to get through ;)

    Fabulous review!

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  22. Ive heard really good things about BRR, but I must be honest it was very hard for me to read it and I just got to like a third of the book, it was interesting yes, but Im just not used to the way is written and not to make excuses, but for someone who´s not an english native speaker it can be difficult, however I do want to give it a try, again one of this days.
    Nice Review :)

    -Mariana S
    http://smartgirls-read.blogspot.com/

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  23. Sounds really interesting. I need to try this one.

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