BOOK: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Blood Red Road by Moira Young, 458 pages

Random Reading Challenge

The first of a proposed trilogy The Dust Lands, Blood Red Road is another edition of post-apocalyptic fiction that is all the rage since the Hunger Games. It is hard not to compare the two books as both have a strong yet reluctant female lead who puts her life on the line to save a sibling. Here though, Saba has to find her twin brother Lugh, after he is carried away from their desolate home by some men. Eventually, we discover that the men are Tonton, a band of men who protect the King. Lots of dust, the tech remains of the Wrecker - there's a Mad Max feel to this book, and Coliseum fighting to the death. Why does every society seem to enjoy watching two peons fight for their life?

The plot hops along here - bang, bang, bang, one life threatening event after another as Saba gathers a rag-tag band of friends on her quest to find and save Lugh. There's some girls (the Free Hawks) and a hunky boy, Jack with which Saba has a conflicting relationship. Hint - huge attraction which she doesn't recognize. The language is more like The Knife of Never Letting Go, with the evolved slang - 'an' for 'and', all the g's are dropped, and 'of' for 'have'. (Which, having read my high schoolers writing, we are almost at now.) I didn't find it difficult to read the style and was swept along with the plot. It's easy reading, with engaging characters, (I especially liked Saba's pet Crow), and lots of action. I'm not so invested in the characters that I'll run out and get the next book as soon as it becomes available, but I can see reading another book in the series.

This is my second Young Adult read for the Random Reading Challenge. The next challenge will be posted the beginning of May, with a brand new theme. Check out the Challenge Blog for more details.