Blood Red Road ~ Moira Young

Title: Blood Red Road
Author: Moira Young
Series: Dust Lands
Pub Date: June 2011
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
459 pages

1 part Book of Eli + 1 part Xena + 1 part Firefly-ish = EPIC.

This is actually a second attempt at the book. The first time, I wasn't in the right frame of mine for the speech patterns. But this time, I was ready! And so glad I did. If I would never have gone back, I would have missed this little gem: "Ezzackly" Awesomeness!

Okay, so Saba, her twin Lugh, and their nine year old sister, Emmi live with their father. Alls going okay until four horsemen ride up to take Lugh. Saba vows to get him back. But her journey to find him is long, arduous, and filled with a cast of unwelcome characters. See-Saba doesn't trust anyone to help her, including her own sister. In fact, Saba's intense dislike and disdain for Emmi is so strong that I can taste it, and feel bad for Emmi. Even Emmi, and everyone who meets them knows Saba hates her!

On the way to Lugh, both Saba and Emmi are kidnapped...and Saba is forced to become a cage fighter, fighting for her life. It is there that she meets up with the Free Hawks. Needless to say, the journey to Lugh begins again...

And what is a  YA novel without a love interest? This ones takes the form of Jack. Jack is...well...Jack is cool. Yeah, that's a good way to describe him. He makes me think of someone who was supposed to be a character in Xena, but ended up with Moira Young instead! (And yes, that is a big compliment.) He didn't make my heart race. For some bizarre reason, that honor is held by DeMalo O.o Yeah, don't ask, there is no explanation.

While I enjoyed Blood Red Road, I found trouble relating to the characters. I like who Saba became, but initially I hated her. Truthfully, I still don't like her a whole bunch. Maybe that is the point though? The only character I felt invested in was Nero-the crow. He was just epic. 

Lugh? The more we heard of him, the less I liked him. The more I distrusted him. There's something up with him!

In the end, fascinating and unique debut by Moira Young. I will definitely be on board for book two!

"I look her straight in the eye when I say it. Lugh always says its the best thing to do when yer telling a lie."

From 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.
Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.