Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

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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.

Note: This was written after a high dosage of movie editing and late nights, so some of the phrases may run on a little as I am both exhausted and somewhat rambly. I'm sorry, people but promise to make it up to you soon?

Blood Red Road is an adventure. Sure, it's set in a post apocalyptic world, but it's just an adventure. Nothing more, nothing less... and that's all it needs to be (and yes, I realize it sounds cheesy but bear with me here)

Set sometime in the future, it begins with Saba, the main character's twin brother getting captured. Immediately, Saba decides to go and save him, and from then on it's a huge quest. On the way, Saba meets love interest Jack, a gang of girls that are trying to change things and her little sister Emmi tags along too. There are no deep, dark secrets. It is simply an adventure, and an amazing one at that.

The adventure was something that I haven't seen in YA fiction for just a tad too long. Single minded? Yes. Crazy and exhilarating? Most definitely. It just goes to show that not all 'great' stories have to be based around huge anti-political uprisings and inequality. That not all stories have to be full of diabolical plans and evil, political leaders, and I loved it for that. There was a ton of action, with whole paragraphs dedicated to fight scenes and worm killing (no joke, they are scary) and the way Moira weaves it altogether is both gritty and beautiful.

Another thing I loved about the story was the characters. Saba is tough, hard-headed, somewhat cold at the beginning and not all that likable, but somehow, I found myself slowly warming up to her. I got her- why she acted the way she is, and I rooted for her as she learnt from her mistakes and learnt to be more compromising. She's not perfect, and she doesn't pretend to be. She didn't even try to be the hero in the novel- all she wanted was her brother, and that was something that I enjoyed seeing. The rest of the characters were fleshed out too- the love interest was not possessive or overly clingy, something good to see, and the love that developed between them was relatable- no insta-love! The rest of the characters like Emmi were also well thought out, and I never had the notion that any of them were flat or one dimensional.

Granted, for many people the writing will be an issue, but it flowed seamlessly for me. It's written quite strangely, with the language used and the grammar being intentionally incorrect at points, but it worked. It fit into the tone and setting of the book, and I liked it. Maybe it's because I've had previous experience with the Chaos Walking series, but there were no transitional issues for me this time round.

There are a few other issues that I had to problem with in the novel, and I guess the major disappointment for me was just the lack of world- building in this novel. While I understood that it wasn't the main point of the novel, I felt as if it could have been explained more- how did the world become what it was? There wasn't any explanation, and that was pretty much the only thing that kind of put me off the novel, which to me was disappointing.

Overall, Blood Red Road is a novel that is definitely exhilarating if you're looking for a fast paced novel with lots of action, and I enjoyed it a lot, though it wasn't one of those life changing novels for me. 4 stars.

★★★★

Four Stars- I enjoyed it