Blood Red Road

By: Moira Young

Narrated by: Heather Lind

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2011 Moira Young (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

My Top Recommendation

This book (and the rest of the series) is the best listening experience I’ve ever had. There’s no other way to describe it other than totally visceral and sensual. Ever emotion and beat is perfect described by the writer, and perfectly perfumed by the reader.

Refreshingly Different!

I highly recommend this book! This richly imaginative and detailed story is so unusual and original it's almost startling in a good way. The author displays first-class talent in her writing, especially considering her use of a non-standard (and non-contemporary) speaking style to tell the whole story in first person. A brave (risky?) artistic choice that I believe will continue to pay off for her. I look forward to more from Ms. Young, and hopefully more with these characters.

loving it

The characters are very relatable. I really like Saba and I like to hear everything from her point of view. I like how tough but vulnerable the characters are. Plus I enjoyed both the love story and the struggle for survival.

Enjoyable with some annoying parts

Who was your favorite character and why?

I enjoyed Jack's character but hated how Heather made him sound the same throughout the entire book, as if his only personality was sly and/or flirty.

What does Heather Lind bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her southern charm.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The cave scene between Saba and Jack, when he threw the torch down (you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there).

Any additional comments?

As mentioned before, Heather's interpretation of Jack was very annoying. As if he were flirting 24/7, even when they were fighting creatures or yelling. I think his voice would have sounded much differently to me had I read it myself. I also don't like how the main character acted so childish and got so offended, by everything, all the time. And her 'lust' for her brother made me think of Cersei and Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones. Overall, though, the story was good, and I plan on reading (listening) to the next book in this series.

Great Environment!

This book has such a rich world it just sucked me right in and the story was great I would recommend this book. I wish there was more, I was quite sad to see the end of this book. The only thing that I didn't like was the was all the "He said" "She said". I'm not sure if it was the way the narrator said it or if the author needs to switch it up and use something other than he and she. But over all a great read and I would defiantly recommend it!

It's a very good story, but...

...the book is written as if by a twelve-year-old who stopped school in the fourth grade. The dramatic action scenes are read as if by a bored teenager. If I didn't have the book in which to read along, there's no way that I could have tolerated this audio book for very long.

Slow start then it grips you

This started quite slowly for me, so slowly I actually stopped listening for quite some time. Then one day I started listening again the the story really caught my attention. It may be the pace that the reader, Heather Lind, set was why it took some time for me to become more engaged. Her pacing was very measured and deliberate regardless of how action filled a particular scene might be. Having said that, I enjoyed her reading, enjoyed the different voices she used for each character. She gave a sort of ???country??? lilt to each character, a bit rough, with touches of colloquialisms.
The story itself is based in a post-apocaliptic world, one that is pretty grim with people scrabbling to survive. The main character is Saba, a tough, hard 18 year girl whose world is ripped apart by the murder of her father and the kidnapping of Lou, her twin brother. She sets off with her 11 year old sister Emmie, to rescue their brother. Of course along the way they run into a number of difficult situations and a number of people, good and bad, who either help them or try to hurt them.
Author Moira Young does a wonderful job of describing the world Saba inhabits. Bit by bit, new characters join the story and a mystery starts to unfold. Why was Lou kidnapped? Who are the Ton Tons and why do they have so much power? Who is the mysterious king who rules with terror and absolute sway over the people? And who is Jack?
The story ends complete in and of itself but there are enough lingering questions to let the reader know that there will probably be a second book!

Fans of Graceling and The Hunger Games will love!

Saba and her family live in a desolate wasteland and when her brother goes missing, she goes on a quest to find him. Along the way, she gains sidekicks (whether she wants to or not) and sees that there is, in fact, “civilization” outside of her home. Holy wow, yall. Saba is one bad mother —-! With the blurb on the cover saying that this is “better than The Hunger Games”, Blood Red Road had a lot to live up to. But did it actually meet my expectations? YES, it did.

It was so unique. I listened to it on audiobook and it was clear that Saba had a heavy accent. I’ve talked to people who have read the book and they have said that the frequent mispellings to show the accent were very distracting so if that’s something that you think might distract you, definitely try the audiobook. I really enjoyed the voice actor.

Blood Red Road was beautifully crafted and I can’t wait to read its sequel, Rebel Heart, which comes out in October 30th, 2012. Fans of Graceling’s Katsa and The Hunger Games’ Katniss, will love Saba!

Good story

I enjoyed the story and the narrator. My only issue was the vernacular. It was a bit grating at times. I understand why the author used it, but hearing, "I says," over and over got to me. Haha, I may be a bit anal about proper English though.

What?

What did you like best about Blood Red Road? What did you like least?

The fighting... girl power...

What other book might you compare Blood Red Road to and why?

None

Could you see Blood Red Road being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes, a movie.

Any additional comments?

To be honest. I was extreamly excited about getting this book and I was soooooooo sad when I began to hear the audio book. I did not understand the language they spoke. It was serious Hill Billy/ Europeans with a deep southern drawl. Huh? Yes, that was my reaction when the dialogues changed. I'm suprised I finished the audio book. I'm glad that the author explained the background more than once throughout the book, so I was able to catch and understand a few things here and there. Again, the story wasn't bad, I just wish I could have understood the Language the main characters spoke.

Here is a little relief... it did get better to understand as the story moved along.