Author: Moira Young
Publisher: Marion Lloyd
Released: June 2nd 2011
Pages: 492 (Paperback)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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In a lawless future land, where life is cheap and survival is hard, Saba has been brought up in isolated Silverlake. She never sees the dangers of the destructive society outside. When her twin brother is snatched by mysterious black-robed riders, she sets outon an epic quest to rescue him.
I had this on my TBR list, and I've nearly taken it out of the library a dozen times - but something stopped me, and I still don't know what that was. However, since this was my last chance to take out books from the school, I decided to go for it - and almost immediately regretted it. Roughly 500 pages of kind of colloquial writing and a slow pace? No thanks! But thankfully, I pushed forward, and halfway through and I was addicted! Unlike other dystopian novels, Blood Red Road seems to be a series to look out for.
Saba and Lugh are twins, and Saba has been following in her brother's shadow since birth. That is, until he is kidnapped by the Tonton - highwaymen/warriors/soldiers/guards to the King. Desperate to get him back, Saba and her nine-year-old sister Emmi set off on a long journey, where they will encounter hurdle after hurdle and will find that maybe there is more to life than living in a secluded dustland?
I've read two other books where the language was written how someone speaks - one was Wuthering Heights for the Scottish butler, and the other was The Knife of Never Letting Go, which I didn't finish because I didn't like it. I was worried this would be the same - that despite the high ratings, I just wouldn't like it. Fortunately, I did get into it - I think the reader just gets used to Young's way of writing, and eventually it may as well be written like a normal book. The pace also picked it, and the storyline got interesting pretty quickly, and it turned out to be quite unique. There were a lot of fight scenes (which I secretly love!) which were beautifully and intricately written, so much so that I could actually picture what was going on inside my head.
As for characters, all I have to say is Jack. Jack Jack Jack Jack Jack Jack - damn, was he swoon-worthy! We all love the cheeky, rugged, playful-with-serious-moments bad guys, and Jack just fit the bill perfectly - definitely a book crush if I ever saw one! I liked how badass and feisty Saba was, and same goes for Lugh, but they both just irritated me mostly - especially Saba. She was horrible to every. single. person. and half the time I wanted to smack some sense into her. She wasn't a bad narrative, just annoying as a character.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and despite the 500-odd pages, I managed to finish it in just a few days! I don't know if I want to read the rest of the series, as they haven't gotten as many good reviews, but I do recommend reading this first one and seeing how it goes. Just give it a chance, is all I'm asking - who knows, you may be surprised?
Rating: 4/5
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