Blood Red Road

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Blood Red Road tells the story of Saba, a girl growing up in a desert wasteland with her father, sister and twin brother, Lugh. One day four horsemen arrive and kidnap Lugh. Feeling as if a part of her is dead without her twin, Saba heads out into a brutal world in a quest to get her brother back, discovering along the way how strong she actually is.

I had heard really good things about Blood Red Road and so I was excited to read it. I picked it up, read three pages and promptly put it down and read three other books instead. Initially, I found it really hard to get engrossed in the book due to the writing style. The book is written as if it was actually being told from the point of view of the protagonist, Saba. Since Saba isn't well educated the book is written with words spelled wrong, missing punctuation, no quotation marks, etc. For the first few chapters I found this to be really jarring and I struggled to figure out who was talking, when someone was talking vs just Saba thinking, etc. I spent so much time trying to get through the language that I was preventing myself from really sinking into, and enjoying the story.

After a few chapters I was completely sucked into the story and didn't even notice the writing style anymore (but to be honest, getting to this point was a struggle). From this point on I couldn't put the book down. The plot flew along and there were no points where I felt like the story was dragging. I really began to enjoy the risks the writer took by using such an unusual writing style and I found that I felt like I knew Saba better since it really seemed to be written in her voice.

I really appreciated that the hero of the story is a flawed character. Too many books have a hero that is so perfect that it is really hard as a reader to identify with them. I was glad to see that it is the first book in a series because while it doesn't end on a cliffhanger I really wanted more of the characters at the end. I am getting fairly fatigued with trilogys lately and would love to see someone develop a strong, YA, dystopian future book that is truly a stand alone novel. Having said that, I will definitely continue to read books in this series.

Ultimately what I started out hating (the writing style) was what really made the book for me and is what will keep me thinking about Blood Red Road for days to come.



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