Book Review: Blood Red Road

Reading Level:      Young Adult 

Hardcover:           326 Pages 

Publisher:             Margaret K. McElderry, June 7, 2011

Parasols:              5

I seem to be on this dystopian kick lately, but let me say that it has been a fantastic time to read these books!  This one is so good that I just couldn't put it down.  Saba, Lugh, and Emmi are from a dried up town called Silverlake.  They live with their dad who is not quite right in the head lately.  Mom has since passed away after giving birth to Emmi.

All we really know is that a war has raged and the Wrecker civilization is gone.  They live in a desolate, hopeless time.  A huge sandstorm comes and with it come the tonton.  They take Lugh and Saba swears that she will get him back.  (The tonton killed her father.)

Leaving the relative safety of Silverlake, Saba and Emmi leave on a quest to find their brother.  Just to give you an idea, Saba is 18 and twinned to Lugh.  Emmi is 9 and really weighs down Saba, who really doesn't appreciate her sister.  Emmi adores Saba, but Saba can barely give her the time of day.  

Saba finds the world a cruel one. And is at one point taken and forced to fight in a ring.  She is called the Angel of Death because she has not yet lost a fight.  But she needs to find a way out, because she has figured out what is planned for her brother.  But while she is shackled up, she meets a mysterious guy who may or may not have her back when she finally leaves.

Saba meets up with help along the way and the travel is treacherous.  It takes months to find her brother, but the story doesn't drag.  The various characters that she comes in contact with make the story flow.  The language and tone of this story is also brilliant.  You know that Saba is an uneducated young woman who only uses her brain and brawn to get what she wants.  And falling in love along the way is something that just might happen.

Can you believe another 5 parasol rating?  I know, me neither!  I just gobbled this book up. I wanted to know what was going at every moment and still think about it a week or so after I finish it.  I've read that Ridley Scott will be turning this into a major motion picture and I would love to see what he does with it.  Moira Young is a debut author and her voice  is exquisite.  This story is tightly wound and even when I thought some threads were going to be left dangling, she picked them up and threaded them back in!  This book may not be for everyone because it's prose is lean and no extra adjective to describe things.  You know from the landscape that life in this world is not good.  But if you want a lyrical, dystopian.  I highly, highly recommend this