Blood Red Road (Dust Lands, #1)

by Moira Young

In a distant future, eighteen-year-old Lugh is kidnapped, and while his twin sister Saba and nine-year-old Emmi are trailing him across bleak Sandsea they are captured, too, and taken to brutal Hopetown, where Saba is forced to be a cage fighter until new friends help plan an escape.

• ISBN10: 1442429984
• ISBN13: 9781442429987
• Publish Date: 7 June 2011 (first published 2 June 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

Wow.

Great premise. With probably the worst execution possible.

The writing style reminds me of the Chaos Walking trilogy, but it's almost an insult to Patrick Ness, because while the two styles share similarities in misspelled words, lots of dialect, etc., Moira Young's writing is just . . . really poor. She uses her style as a crutch to mask her very simple and awful prose. An example:

As written in the book:
"I ain't doin nuthin fer you, I says.
You ain't gotta choice, she says.
You cain't make me do nuthin, I says.
Oh you'll do ezzackly what I tell you, she says."

Now, without the "spice" of her misspelled words, it's just:
"I ain't doing nothing for you, I say.
You ain't got a choice, she says.
You can't make me do nothing, I say.
Oh you'll do exactly what I tell you, she says."

I don't really know if it makes a difference, but according to the high praise and 5-star reviews, it must. It's 459 pages of writing that reads like a first draft: barely readable writing, way too much that needs to be cut, underdeveloped characters, and random, aimless events plugged in for drama but that don't further plot/characters/etc.

So many things happen at breakneck speed, but it's all one pace. It's all without depth. No action has a consequence. People get hurt--they're miraculously healed so they can do something the story requires them to do. And then they remember they're injured when the love interest comes back into play. All plot points end with a feeling of "well, that was easy".

This book also wins an award for the most cheesy and sickening romantic device ever to be used in YA history: the heartstone. A rosy pink stone that heats up around the wearer's true desire.

:|

Not to mention, Saba (the MC)'s love interest is this cliche, cocky fellow who teases Saba relentlessly--but no, this book is so original, a breath of fresh air!! (and if Moira Young writes "My lips is tinglin" after a kiss one more time . . .)

But I need to give this book SOME credit. I mean, who doesn't love a teaspoon of ableism with their crappy YA post-apocalyptic romance? Enter the villain: the King. The King who is present in maybe 1/16 of the novel, who is always talked about as being "crazy" and also "the devil" but is never actually . . . there, until the end. Where you find out he actually probably does have some sort of mental problem, referring to himself in the third person and spitting over everyone when he talks. Don't you just love negative representation!

After finishing the book, I have a couple thoughts:

1. The entire 7/8 of the book was about finding Lugh. Saba wouldn't sleep, wouldn't eat, wouldn't bathe until she found Lugh. Well, she found him, and after a brief hug, she basically went, "Ok, now that that's taken care of, what's next??" I don't . . . understand.
2. I also don't understand Emmi. Was she just in the book to be beaten up in order to hurt Saba? It's ridiculous.

This review turned out a lot more sarcastic and cruel than I intended. But, as you can tell . . . this really wasn't for me.

[Kelly]

http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/

Blood Red Road is achingly slow to begin and some may not be able to read belong the first few chapters, it is written in pure story form. Without any quotations or clear dialogue, it allows you to connect with the main character Saba instantly, as it uses slang spelling and mispelt words to create her unique accent.

Saba is tough and unforgiving and you'll find a dislike for her character more often than not. But with the harsh environment and the pressure of keeping her family together, you can sympathise. It isn't until she meets others along the way, that she starts to see that she needs to become a better version of herself, for Emmi's sake.

[Amber]

This book took a little while to get into because of the style in which it was written. Luckily, I had read The Knife of Never Letting Go shortly before so I was used to a different sort of writing style and language, but I wasn't used to having no speech marks. It was very strange at first, but I got used to it after a few chapters and then I got sucked in.

I love adventure novels, in which the characters go on a journey to find something or someone, and this is what this book is. Saba goes through a lot of stuff to get her brother back, and I adored reading about her journey. Again, it reminded me a little of The Knife of Never Letting Go, because Todd goes on an adventure sort of thing as well.

Saba was an awesome character, although she did annoy me a little in the beginning. She was incredibly mean to her little sister, and this got to me. I also really liked the secondary characters as well, including the villains! They were simply awesome.

There's a huge cage fighting sequence which I adored. It totally reminded me of Spartacus which is always a plus! Saba turned into a badass after this and it was when I really starting to root for her.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was Saba's little sister. Which may sound weird because I had just been complaining about Saba being mean to her, but she was really bloody annoying. She makes the same mistake over and over again, and caused so much hassle. If my younger sibling had acted like that I would have handcuffed them to a tree until I returned.

I do think this book would have worked really well as a standalone, and I don't see why it needs a sequel to be honest. Nonetheless, I'm really looking forward to the second book in the series which comes out in the autumn!

[lizarodz]

First, let me start by saying that I listened to Blood Red Road. I clarify that because I have seen some comments about the dialect used in the book, but since I listed, not read the book and from my point of view it was perfect. Although there are some parts of this book that I didn’t like, I really enjoyed Blood Red Road.

Saba is our protagonist and she is not very likeable. She is rude, has no manners, is stubborn, opinionated, violent, ungrateful and more. Saba’s fixation with Lugh was a little hard for me to identify with. I have siblings and I love them dearly, but Saba’s feelings for Lugh seem extreme (then again I don’t have a twin.) It seems to me that Saba was a mix of Katniss from The Hunger Games and Katsa from Graceling, but not getting quite there yet. I found hard to believe that a girl that was so sheltered and isolated could be this violent and resilient. Some of her faults can be attributed to said isolation, I mean when you live with only three other people as companions, I guess manners are not necessary. On the other hand Saba is strong and inspiring to others, and she did changed and grew up a little.

Emmi is Saba’s little sister and she is very sweet and a saint to put up with Saba! Lugh doesn’t take a big part of the book, so I’ll reserve my judgment for the sequel. Other characters were very well developed and are abundant. Now it’s Jack’s turn. Jack is kind of hard to figure out. He is a handsome dare-devil and knows a lot about everything (I think he thinks he knows it all). He is very easy going and doesn’t know what to do with Saba, but he is very good with people and especially with Emmi. I really liked Jack and I hope we can see more of him in the series.

Other than my few issues with Saba’s character the story is fantastic. It takes place somewhere in a distant future, where people don’t read (can you imagine?) and where people are very violent and life is hard and short (sort of like living in the wild west). The writing is beautiful, well paced, with enough for us to know the setting and background information, but keeping an air of mystery at the same time. I really enjoyed Blood Red Road and I am looking forward to book two, Rebel Heart, to be published in October of this year.

[elvinagb]

Loved this book. It looks to be the first of a series, but don't let that stop you from reading this. The ending is satisfying without leaving you on the edge of cliffhanger. Great characters and action.

[Hillary]

From 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. 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.   My Review: I have been attempting to branch out from my usual fare of Literary Fiction. I head good reviews from several bloggers on this Young Adult book and when I saw it in the library decided to give it a try. I am glad I did.. This is a book that is fast paced so you will never get bored. It seems that from the very first page there is action. The world building is done through the plot. And what a world it is! It is set in a dystopian future where chaal (a drug) is used to control people and they have barbaric cage fights using humans and stuff. There is some points where I thought there was no way Saba (the main character) could get out of this one but yet she always did. I came to admire her strong independent spirit. I loved the characters in this book. It was easy to connect with them and imagine myself in their place. The narration style is different than what one would be used to. It took me a few pages to get used to it but once I did it quickly fit in with the characters and the plot and only added to the story. I would encourage everyone to read this book. This is one book that lives up to its hype.This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land