Book Review: Red Blood Road by Moira Young Book Review

I first read Blood Red Road a few years ago, but recently when I heard that I was going to receive the last two books in the trilogy for review, I borrowed it from my local library re-read it and thought I might as well upload my review of it.

Saba lives in Silverlake, a wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms where her family scavenge from landfills to stay alive. After four cloaked horsemen kidnap her beloved twin brother Lugh, she teams up with daredevil Jack and the Free Hawks, a girl gang of Revolutionaries. Saba learns that she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Saba and her new friends stage a showdown that changes the course of her civilization.

Unlike other dystopian YA novels, Blood Red Road isn't focused on issues that lead to rebellion and upheaval.  You know what it is?  An adventure, plain and simple.  It's not seeking to teach but to engross and entertain but, for me, I was so thoroughly engrossed and entertained by this story that I really became invested in it over the course of almost 500 pages. The world-building is not the main focus here; the characters and their emotions are in the spotlight while the adventure of the story acts as the plot.

And what an adventure it is. The story begins with Saba's life in Silverlake with her father, her twin Lugh and her younger sister Emmi. When Lugh is kidnapped by a dangerous cult organisation that call themselves The Tonton, Saba vows to rescue him. The setting changes as Saba moves swiftly across the deserts of Silverlake, to Hopetown (where she becomes a cage fighter) and then to Freedom Fields. Blood Red Road is set on earth, several hundreds of years after the ‘Wreckers’ wrecked it, I loved it.

Young wrote Blood Red Road brilliantly. At first, I had a hard time reading it. After about 20 pages, I did not even notice it. As the story progresses, you realize how important this writing style is to portray Saba. The grammatically incorrect sentences reveal Saba’s rawness and her simple desire to survive. 

I enjoyed the romance between Saba and Jack because, it wasn’t an all-consuming romance. Jack didn't hold Saba back, he urged her forward, to find Lugh and change the world. I liked the fact that the love story was only as small part of Blood Red Road and while it was going on there were other issues being addressed.

Blood Red Road was a whirl wind of a read, packed with adventure, action, survival, coming of age elements, family ties, love and loss. It has defiantly become one of my favourite books and I can’t fault it at all, which is why I rate it five out of five stars.