Thursday, June 2, 2011

Book Review ~ Blood Red Road

Blood Red Road (Dustlands #1)
By Moira Young
Published By Margaret K McElderry
Expected Release date: June 7, 2011
eGalley from Simon & Schuster galley grab

Summary (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.

My Thoughts: I had a hard time getting into this book.  I struggled with the dialect right from the start, all the git's and fers and 'uld (this one was the worst), I ended up putting the book down several times. Once the action in the book picked up I was able to get past the words and get into Saba's story.
I ended up liking several of the other characters more than I liked Saba. Throughout the book we see her growth, from a sheltered twin who relies on her brother for everything to a self reliant individual who is able to get through anything that is thrown at her.  My problem was that even with the growth she was one of those characters that seemed to take one step forward and two steps back. I could easily see her in the next book acting the same way she was at the beginning of this book.  I thought that the little sister, Emmi, had the most growth. She goes from a spoiled, sheltered child to someone who is able stand on her own and fight with everyone else. I also really liked the rest of the people that helped Saba along the way from Jack, who puts up with more than most would, to the Free Hawks, who remind me of an Amazon type group. There are some truly evil characters in this book. From the Pinch's and Cagemaster, who kidnap and force Saba to fight in cage matches, to the King who wants to sacrifice Lugh for his own gains.
It was easy to get lost in this book from the road trip leaving Silverlake right up until the final battle at Freedom Fields with the King and his men. There are some characters like DeMallo (one of the King's men) and Lugh that I wanted to know more about and hope we find out more in future books.

Rating: 3.5 (only because of my issues with Saba and the dialect)

2 comments:

  1. Great Review! This sounds like an interesting read. I too have a hard time reading a dialect that is full of slang and misspelled words. How far in before the action really picks up? And is the dialect bad through out the whole book?
    Those may be some deciding factors whether i choose to pick this book up or not
    Cheers!!!

    http://j9books.blogspot.com/

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  2. ** It is throughout the whole book but once I got into the story I didn't notice it as much. There's action from the beginning but it didn't grab me until a couple of sections in.

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