I received a copy of Rebel
Heart by Moira Young from Scholastic publishing house and couldn't wait to
read because I was marathoning the series. Thank you Sophia (hi).
Saba has rescued her
kidnapped brother and defeated the fanatical Tonton. But the price to be paid
for her violent victory is terrible. Jack has disappeared – and can no longer
be trusted. A new and formidable enemy is on the rise in the Dustlands. No one
is safe. And Saba must confront the terrible secret hidden in the darkest
depths of her soul ‘…you can’t kill all the badness in the world. You
cut it down in front of you only to find that it’s standing right behind you.’
The language was much easier
to appreciate this time around. When I read Blood Red
Road, I was gripped by Saba's unique narrative voice, spoken in a catching
dialect and without the usual punctuation conventions of direct speech. The opening section of Rebel Heart is told in third person from Jack’s point of view, and
then the reader is back to Saba’s first person narrative thereon in. I relished
it this time. Her dialect felt very natural and it was surprisingly easy to
immerse myself in.
Once I was back with Saba
after the brief glimpse into Jack’s journey to The Lost Cause and Molly, the
story becomes more significantly about Jack and Saba’s reunion in the West. But whereas in Blood Red Road, she was focused on
rescuing her brother Lugh, in Rebel Heart
she seems at a loose end, almost unhinged, and haunted by the people she has
lost and killed. This leads to a more introspective tone to the opening
chapters and a deeper exploration of her character and of her relationship with
Lugh.
That's
not to say there's a lack of action, though; there are ostrich-riding monks, highway
hijacking, a camel-drawn cart chase and with the Tonton land-grabbing,
enslaving and branding right, left and centre, danger is only ever around the
corner.
I grew
to particularly love the character of Emmi (Saba’s younger sister) who really
seemed to mature and take on her own (great) personality. I also liked the
other characters that were introduced, Auriel and Slim. I enjoyed
reading about Tommo and DeMalo too.
Things
really heat up on the love front in this book, as Saba finds herself confused
and at the center of a complicated love triangle. At the moment I’m not sure what to make of it,
but that’s probably because I will always be rooting for Jack, but I’m sure
that in Raging star (the final book
of the Dustlands trilogy) everything
will become clear.
The last quarter or so of the
book is my favorite part. The story wraps up beautifully, though remains open
for another sequel. Young has taken the plot to an interesting new place, even
though it took a little while to get there. I give this book four out of five
stars and I can’t wait to read the next one.
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