Moira Young's BLOOD RED ROAD, the first in her Dustlands
series, will captivate fans of young adult dystopian
fiction. Her writing is as spare as the world she builds,
and her use of dialect brings home what could happen
should our world deteriorate to this extent. Saba, the
main protagonist of the story, has lived in Silverlake all
her life. They scavenge in landfills for what they need,
hunting for what food they can catch or grow and fear the
ever-present dust storms. But Saba's world is shattered
when four cloaked riders come with a severe dust storm and
kidnap her twin brother, Lugh. While Saba can't stand her
little sister, her love for her brother has no boundaries
and she vows to get him back no matter what it takes.
And it takes a lot. She's captured and turned into a cage
fighter and must fight other women to stay alive. It is
here where she meets Jack, another cage fighter who both
attracts and repels her. She doesn't understand her
feelings for him which only makes her angry. Will she
escape from here in time to save her brother and perhaps
her world?
Young's story is a fantasy adventure, but at its heart,
it's a book about character and relationships. Saba, a not-
very-nice person is a tremendously flawed, and thus more
realistic, character. So the story is as much about her
actions as about her self-discovery. She's a fighter and a
survivor and a protagonist to root for along the way.
Young doesn't spend a lot of time on lavish descriptions,
perhaps because her world doesn't have that much to
lavishly describe, but her style matches the starkness of
both the landscape and her characters' circumstances at
times. I don't want to give away too much, but supporting
characters like Jack and a revolutionary group of women
called the Free Hawks work well. Young is at her best when
bringing alive relationships, especially between Saba and
Jack and Saba and her little sister. Fans of dystopian
young adult fiction will relish this writer's ability and
devour this fabulous tale. This is one of the best YA
books I've read all year, and I look forward to more from
this new fiction voice.
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.
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