Blood Red Road (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Blood Red Road Claire Gross Young, Moira . Blood Red Road. McElderry, 2011. [512p]. (Dustlands) Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-2998-7 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-3339-7 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12. Saba's mother believed that "there can be beauty anywhere . . . even here"; since her death, though, the only beautiful part of Saba's hardscrabble life is her twin brother, Lugh, in whose shadow she has always willingly lived. When he is kidnapped, and their father killed, she vows to rescue him, embarking on a cross-country journey that acquaints her with the many dangers of her world, seemingly a post-apocalyptic future despite hints of the supernatural. Saba is of the Katniss school of heroine, all tough edges, tender insides, and ferocious protective instincts, and watching her slowly open her heart—to her younger sister, Emmi, to the group of Amazonian revolutionaries she falls in with, to roguish thief Jack—after a lifetime of investing all her emotions in Lugh is exhilarating. The adrenaline, fueled by the oppressive dystopian atmosphere and fantastically perilous landscape, is nonstop: cliffhanger chapter endings abound, and Saba survives a desert crossing, sandstorms, gladiator games, a gauntlet, a fire, a waterfall, a hellwurm, and then a giant hellwurm (which she kills with her bare hands) . . . and that's before she even reaches Lugh. The stylized orality of Saba's narration draws readers assuredly into her head and recalls Ness' similarly brutal The Knife of Never Letting Go (BCCB 10/08), and the combination of fraught relationships, high-stakes action, and a tough heroine will be a sure sell to fans of Hunger Games (BCCB 11/08). Young's character- and world-building are entirely her own, however, and readers will be eager to return to Saba, Emmi, and the teased-at mysteries of their devastated world in future series volumes. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois