Saturday, November 12, 2011

Book Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Eighteen year old Saba has lived her entire life in Silverlake, her life is  all about surviving the hash life there. Dangerous sandstorms and drought is a part of everyday life, still Saba likes her life as long as her twin, Lugh, is there by her side.

One day everything changes, out of a big sandstorm a group of riders emerge and they take Lugh, by force, with them. Saba swears that she won't stop searching until she finds her brother again. To find Lugh Saba has to go out into a very unsafe world and if that wasn't hard enough in itself her little sister Emmi insists on tagging along.


My thoughts:
Blood Red Road nearly took my breath away, it was that good. The first few pages was kind of a struggle because the entire story is written in dialect, but that was so easy to forget. I might add that the whole dialect aspect brings another dimension to the whole world author Moira Young has created in this novel, it shows how the people lack education. These people have a lot more pressing matters to tend to than learning how to read and write. When I had the time to sit down and enjoy this novel I devoured the pages(just almost literally LOL), I was sucked into the story and didn't want to close the book until I made it to the final page.

In Blood Red Road we travel with Saba through her adventures journey towards freeing her brother, Lough, from captivity. What I really loved about this story was that the whole quest was about so much more than one initially was lead to believe. Saba is in no way a one dimensional character, she feels genuine, she is though and not always the nicest kind of person. Saba can behave in a way that tugs at your heartstrings, still you have no other choice but to root for her.

I would like to add that this is a most excellent and well thought through debut novel I've read in quite awhile. This was a fabulous dystopian YA novel that I wholeheartedly recommend others to read. Blood Red Road can work as a stand alone but it seems to be a sequel in the making. I hope Moira Young can pull it off with that difficult second book, one which I'm longing for already.

Book trailer:

The cover:
I actually think it depicts the harsh conditions in which Saba lives quite accurately(at least how I imagine it to be).


My rating of this book:
- this is one awesome dystopian!


Want to know more?
Add Blood Red Road to your Goodreads wish list
Visit Blood Red Road's homepage
Full disclosure: Review copy from the Norwegian publisher.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries. 
                                                                                                              

8 comments:

  1. WOW. Why haven't I read this yet? I've had a copy sitting in my bookshelf for ages and it's now practically SCREAMING to be read after your review! I'm glad the writing is easy to slip into, if a little jarring at first. I love my dystopians, so it makes me happy that this is yet another standout. I cannot wait to read it! Fantastic review <3

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  2. Great review!
    This book is one of the best that I've read this year.
    And at first I was so confused about the dialect. I thought my book was full of typos LOL

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  3. OMGGGGGG this book was amazing!!! I actually had the pleasure of meeting Moira Young and she's so fabulous, I'm glad this book turned out great as well!! I loved the writing style, even if it was kind of difficult to get used to, but it was awesome!!

    Anna @ Literary Exploration

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  4. Awwh thanks, Brodie! Can't wait to hear what you think of BRR once you get to it.

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  5. Thanks, Lilly, I'm glad to discover more fans of this wonderful book.

    Wow,Anna, that sounds like so much fun!

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  6. I am a bit scared since the library has a translation, but...I do want to read it!

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  7. I am very curious about this book due to your review and the atmosphere in the book cover. Of course I am also a big fan of dystopian novels:)

    Skriver litt på norsk og jeg:-) Jeg er nysgjerrig på hvordan denne er på norsk hvis du sier at språket delvis er på dialekt og betyr noe for historien. Ikke alltid så vellykket når man skal oversette, for eksempel True Blood-bøkene. Samtidig kan det være et hinder å komme over for noen når de skal lese den på engelsk.

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  8. This one took me by surprise. I'm halway through and am enjoying it very much.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts =)