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.
My Thoughts:
You know those books that you find and after you read them you keep thinking about them and find that you’re really anxious for the next one to come out? Thankfully, thankfully, Blood Red Road was like that for me.
Saba comes from a dysfunctional yet close family. Her mom passed away giving birth to her little sister and Saba hates the sister for it. The dad’s gone a little loopy since the mom passed. The sister is a pretty normal winey little kid. But Lugh is perfect in Saba’s eyes. He means everything to her. So when he’s taken away, it pushes Saba to grow up and go after him.
In the reviews I’ve seen of Blood Red Road, people talked about the rough way Saba talks. And it is rough, jarring, and now what you’re used to reading in a novel. But I LOVED it! I found myself thinking in the language Saba used for days after I finished. It was just a raw, no nonsense way of thinking.
Saba’s growth in the book was wonderful. In the beginning she wasn’t much more than her twin brother’s shadow, always looking to him to do the right thing. And as she goes after him, she becomes a tough, quick thinking warrior. I have to say, I loved how she became known as “The Angel of Death” without giving away any spoilers. It was just great.
I did have a few hang-ups with this book. The fact that there were no quotation marks around any of the dialogue drove me CRAZY! It made me pay very close attention but when I’m reading I don’t want it to have to be work. There were a few twists that seemed predictable to me. And I was having really high hopes that this might be a standalone novel but the last three pages made that not possible. Now I have to wait for the next one… sigh.
Overall, I really did like Blood Red Road. I would place it in my top 5 favorite books I’ve read in 2011 so far. I give it 4 out of 5 stars!
2 comments:
I completely agree, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars as well. Really enjoyed it, really enjoyed Saba, but the fact that it was written in first person narrative, present tense, with no quotation marks to break up prose from dialogue threw me for a loop! Once you get into though it is a really good read :-)
Hi Keary! I've been hearing so much about you that I just had to come over and check out your blog. I love LDS YA writers, I love dystopian, I love book reviews, so I'm very glad to have found you. Just sayin'.
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