Thursday, June 2, 2011

Review: Blood Red Road by Moria Young

Blood Red Road
(Dustlands #1)
by Moria Young
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 464
ISBN: 9781442429987
Source: e-ARC

Where to Buy:
B&N | Amazon | BAM | Borders | The Book Depository | Simon & Schuster

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.


Blood Red Road is the first book in the Dustland series by Debut Author Moira Young. Of all the books I read so far, Blood Red Road is definitely the most interesting read yet. I haven’t read very many books of the dystopian genre, but this book makes me want to read more.

First of all, I have to say that Saba, the main character, is kick ass! I totally didn’t expect her to be such a strong character from what I read of her in the beginning of the book. But she was. I can’t imagine going through what this girl went through, and survived. She was a very well written character, and I really liked her. Her sister, Emmi, was annoying, but the girl was as strong a character as her big sister. Jack, the male protagonist, is the perfect match for Saba. All of the characters in this book were really interesting and drew me in, even the bad guys. I love the FreeHawks!

The writing style definitely threw me off, and it did take a bit longer for me to get through the book because of it. The plot, however, was really fascinating and the book was well paced. (The first half the book did seem to go by a little faster than the second half.) The world that the author created was really believable. I could totally see something like that happening in the future. The book also had a little romance thrown in to make the book even more believable, and it was just the right amount, not too much.

Overall, while this book was hard for me to read because of the language, it was a really good read. I’ll definitely be checking out the next book in the series.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster’s Galley Grab for sending out the e-ARC for this book!

15 comments:

  1. Thanks for the great review .. I've only heard positive things about this book so far !! I look forward to read it .. Besides, I love dystopias !

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  2. I don't think that I have ever read the synopsis for this book until now. I agree that it does sound pretty fascinating. I am glad that you liked all the characters! Guess I will have to check this one out. Thanks for the review!

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  3. Sounds interesting. I always find it's a little harder to adapt to a new writing style or language but it sounds like once you adjust it's a great story. I will check this one out. Great review!

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  4. This sounds interesting. I'm a little burnt out on dystopian right now but I could see eventually reading this one!

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  5. I'm reading this right now and love it so much! I like the writing style and the vernacular, so haven't had problems with that. I love everything about it so far. Thanks for the great review!

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  6. Yeah, I totally know where you are coming from in reference to the writing style/language. I've come across that a few times myself and it always makes the reading experience a little less enjoyable.

    I discovered dystopian last year, and now I can't get enough. I'll have to add this one to my growing list.

    Thanks, Christy!

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  7. I just finished this one and I really loved it. At first the writing style threw me off and every time I picked up the book it took a few lines for me to be immersed it in again. But once I was? Wow, amazing stuff.

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  8. I'm in the middle of this one right now and I absolutely love it. The writing style did take a bit to get used to, but now that I've adapted, the pages keep flying by! Can't wait to finish it, thanks for the review!

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  9. Hi, I nominated you for the versatile blogger award on my blog :)

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  10. I put this book down because of the language...it's a real pet peeve of mine that for some reason I can never get over. I know many people said wants you go over that it was great, but I couldn't tough it out. Great review!

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  11. I loved this book. For me it took about 20 pages to get used to the dialect, but then I almost felt like I was participating in the journey along with Saba because her manner of speech drew me in. I'm glad you liked it!

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  12. I have this on my Nook... I probably wont get to it before the eGalley expires! :(

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  13. I'm in the middle of reading this (by that I mean I'm about 50 pages out of 500). The writing is throwing me off a little, but I'll keep persevering from your good review!

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  14. I have heard great things about this book but just could not get to it and the galley expires in like two days. I really hope my library gets it...
    NC
    Truly Bookish

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  15. I have got this book but I think I might find it a little hard going too. I'm glad you did actually like it though :-)

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