Blood Red Road (Dust Lands, #1) in YA and Beyond

May 01, 2011 Cassi aka Snow White Haggard rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian, kindle

3.5/5
Warning: First paragraph is poorly written dialect
I spect if I writ this hole review like the books writ you werent read very far. Fortntly for "Blood Red Road" Moira Young aint bad at this writting thang like I am. (Try reading with a twang it might work better).

Really I thought about trying to write the whole review in dialect. In my head it sounded like a good idea but it takes a stronger person than me to purposely misspell words. Please don't hold my poor attempt at dialect against the 3.5/5
Warning: First paragraph is poorly written dialect
I spect if I writ this hole review like the books writ you werent read very far. Fortntly for "Blood Red Road" Moira Young aint bad at this writting thang like I am. (Try reading with a twang it might work better).

Really I thought about trying to write the whole review in dialect. In my head it sounded like a good idea but it takes a stronger person than me to purposely misspell words. Please don't hold my poor attempt at dialect against the book. The twangy uneducated language is actually one of the best parts of the book. Young has a gift for making dialect feel natural and preventing it from interfering with the story.

Blood Red Road is a Dystopian Western (at least that's what I'm calling it. I swear in my head Saba's wearing a prairie dress the whole time). Its fast paced and action-packed, a quick fun read. Saba, Lugh, Emmie and her father live in the middle of nowhere. Literally, freaking desert with a dying lake. They're isolated and don't trust outsiders. So when four cloaked horsemen kidnap Lugh (Saba's twin) and kill their father, Saba stubbornly decides she's going to rescue her brother. I'll be honest, for most of this book I thought Saba might be in love with her twin brother. No it doesn't really go there. But trust me, she's so isolated from the world and selfish with her brother's affection that you'll at least ask the question.

This book has a little bit of everything (too much of everything). Kidnapping, cage fighting, giant reptiles, even a musical interlude. The best I can say is that it's fun. The worst I can say is that sometimes it doesn't really make sense.

The only real problem with Blood Red Road is that at times it moves so fast that it forgets about logic. Here are a few examples of what we will call "logic fails"

1. For someone who only knows her brother, her sister and her father Saba seems a little too intuitive about people.
2. Saba is excellent at hand-to-hand combat with absolutely no training. She can even beat experienced fighters.
3. There's a bird that's WAY SMARTER than Saba herself, but there's no magical explanation. (Really I love the bird but logic tells me that it couldn't possibly really exist).
4. There are giant worms that eat people. Except everyone forgets about them and they don't show up when a whole army needs to cross their territory for the final battle.

Honestly if I tore this book apart I could probably find a lot more problems. But I enjoyed this book and don't want to destroy the fun. When you read this book just don't think very hard, preferably not at all. I would recommend this book to a lot of people. It's enjoyable, fast paced, and completely harmless.

It's like the poor-man's Chaos Walking--not as smart and not as much meat. But that doesn't mean this book doesn't have a place. Probably it's biggest pitfall (among my friends) is that it'll draw too many comparisons to Chaos Walking. These books don't have similar ambitions. This book is the equivalent of an action movie whereas Chaos Walking is a thought-provoking art film. Blood Red Road has lots of violence, special effects, a bad boy love interest and that's it. I really don't think it's trying to be anything more.

Blood Red Road succeeds at what it attempts and that's being a fun read. So enjoy a mindless adventure with a dash of cheese, no harm. I'm not ashamed to admit that I did. ...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Heidi rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2011

I can't think of any big review for this book but I enjoyed it. As promised by one of my GR friends it was a good mix between my two favorite Dystopian series Hunger Games and Chaos Walking (thanks Isamlq!). Due to the similar dialect it was very chaoswalkingesque and because of the strong female lead reminded me of Katniss from HG. This is one of those books where you are just thrown into the world and it is up to the author to make you forget all your questions and go along for the ride. In my ...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Haley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, action-romance, the-sky-is-falling

**Spoiler Alert** I've read a lot of books, but none like this one. This isn't traditional form of writing, not proper gramar and most words were odd. At the start I had a hard tine with it but soon all I could do was rejoice that there wasn't those irritating little marks to slow me down. If I could give this book six stars I would. It blew me away, a completely different world. I love Saba though some thing about her bugged me-again at first. Jack is a perfect boy toy, and he even has moon eye ...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Jen Halligan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

4.5 Stars. Originally posted on my blog, A Book and a Latte :

WOW. What a great debut for Moira Young! Blood Red Road is an action-packed adventure across the desert. Saba, her twin Lugh, and little sister Emmi live with their father in the wasteland of Silverlake. They know nothing of the outside world and their nearest neighbors live miles away. All they have is each other. Saba and Lugh are not just twins; they are best friends and have never been apart. When Lugh is kidnapped, Saba vows to 4.5 Stars. Originally posted on my blog, A Book and a Latte :

WOW. What a great debut for Moira Young! Blood Red Road is an action-packed adventure across the desert. Saba, her twin Lugh, and little sister Emmi live with their father in the wasteland of Silverlake. They know nothing of the outside world and their nearest neighbors live miles away. All they have is each other. Saba and Lugh are not just twins; they are best friends and have never been apart. When Lugh is kidnapped, Saba vows to find him and takes off across the desert to save him.

Saba had always followed Lugh’s lead, and during her quest to find him, she discovers how strong and capable she is – physically and mentally. During her mission she is faced with a slew of challenges, from sand storms to cage fighting. Saba is stubborn, tough, and reluctant to accept or acknowledge that she needs any help. She is so obsessed with the task of finding her brother that she stubbornly denies friendship and love. After awhile this characteristic, along with her attitude toward Emmi began to wear on me. Eventually her walls began to come down as she learned the value of friendship and that letting people in could make life happier and better.

Blood Red Road is full of interesting characters. Jack, Saba’s love interest is smart and charming. The Free Hawks, a group of female warriors are kick-but and kept things lively. DeMalo only has small role, but is sexy and intriguing… I’m hoping/expecting that we will see more of him in the next book. I never thought I’d say that I want a pet crow, but Saba’s crow Nero is just awesome, and was actually one of my favorite characters. Every time he showed up, I found myself grinning.

The audiobook is read by Heather Lind, and I think she did a great job with the characters’ dialect and capturing the tone. I definitely recommend this audiobook, however I’ve heard such amazing things about how the book is written in minimalist prose that I may have to read the physical book just for the experience.

Blood Red Road is fast-paced and gripping, and a must read. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Dustlands Trilogy! ...more

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