Blood Red Road by Moira Young

US Edition

BLOOD RED ROAD

Dustlands, Book One
by Moira Young
ISBN: 978-1442429987
Available Now!
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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.

IB Teen's Review:

Blood Red Road, a gritty post apocalyptic western  feels cinematic in scale. I felt the blistering winds, tasted the sand in my teeth, the blood in my mouth, and the urgency and fear plaguing Saba and little Emmie on their quest to save their brother from his kidnappers. 

" Lugh! I cry.
I run alongside him. I gasp. Cain't git a breath. Tears run down my face.
Lugh lifts his head. Our eyes meet. Lugh's eyes. Blue as the summer sky. I grab his hands.
I'll find you, I says. Wherever they take you, I swear I’ll find you.
No, he says. It’s too dangerous. Keep yerself safe. You an Emmi. Promise me you will.
They grab Hob's rope as they pass. They're takin him too.
They break into a canter.
I cain't keep up. My hand slides away from Lugh's.
Promise me Saba, Lugh says.
I keep runnin after 'em.
I'll find you! I scream.
They disappear into the red haze.
Lugh! I scream. Lugh! Come back!
My legs go out from unner me. I fall to my knees....

...I cain't speak. Cain't breathe. Lugh's gone. Gone.  My golden heart is gone. I kneel in the dust.  The tears roll down my face. An a hard red rain starts to fall.  "-- from Blood Read Road Excerpt.

Written like spoken language, Blood Red Road is full of mispronunciations and slang just like the author loves so much. A Cormac McCarthy-like absence of quotation marks added to the raw style of Saba's narration. Saba's voice is so incredibly distinct, reading her was like an instant immersion into her world, I felt like I was dropped into the barrenness of Silverlake. In a society where the English language has degraded and been bastardized for such a long time, I imagine that in this future post-apocalyptic world where the majority of it's inhabitants are illiterate, that this is how people would sound.

Saba is like a clenched fist and I adored the red hot anger inside her. I loved that she was tough and almost unyielding. That specific toughness served her well in the environment and circumstances she was thrust in.  It may have made her journey that much more difficult, but I understood her perfectly. But I also understood that she would need to grow and see how her single mindedness to save her brother Lugh isolated her from the people wanting to have a relationship with her- even her own little sister.


I am eagerly anticipating the next book in this Dustlands saga because there are some black hatted characters that I have a sneaking suspicion have a much grayer role to play. A revolution has sparked in book one, and I'm looking forward to the fire spreading in book two.