Book Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

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 is a wonderful example of how important world building is when writing a dystopian or post apocalyptic novel. Young does a great job of establishing the state of Silverlake and the plight of Saba’s family without dragging out the description for an exorbitant number of pages. Not only does Saba take a physical journey throughout the novel, but a personal one. We see her go from being the follower to a powerful leader, from a completely callus character to an empathetic one.

The characterization in this novel is exemplary, and as a reader I felt that I truly knew the pain Saba felt with the loss of Lugh and her father. I love how realistic it is that Saba would have trouble accepting her younger sister, whose life took their mother’s in childbirth. I love Emmi (the sister), but I think it is a vital part of Saba’s growth as a character and adult to witness the relationship with her previously shunned younger sibling blossom. In fact, it is better in this novel than most because it is a constant throughout the book. Young continues to show the stutter steps that Saba takes to repair her sisterly relationship with Emmi.

Jack. What do I say about Jack? I think that he has so many secrets that the reader is yet to be exposed to, and I was expecting him to pull out a heartstone of his own once he admitted how he felt about Saba. (Maybe he has one, who knows?) He is a great example of a character that is strong, caring, and clever.

Again, I cannot praise Young enough for her use of secondary characters. Every single secondary character had a purpose within the narrative, and not one of them is a waste of pages and description. The Free Hawks, especially, I was expecting to be somewhat expendable based on the nature of their livestyles, but Young proved me wrong. I love when a writer does that.

I will say that if you have trouble reading books written in dialect– a la Huckleberry Finn– then this book might be hard for you to get into. However, once you continue reading, the dialect becomes so intertwined with the novel that it helps bring it to life.

Definitely looking forward to the next installment. 5 Bards.