A Reader's Ramble- Blood Red Road

For this Reader's Ramble, I will be reviewing Blood Red Road by Moria 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.

Again, I don't know why that is highlighted in white.. but anyways..

Plot- Wow, just wow! I've never read a story like this before, Moria Young is a genius! I never thought a book like this could exist.. Just everything about it was so wild and creative. The setting, characters, plot, DIALOGUE, just wow! This is such a different take on Dystopian societies. I don't even know what country or time period they are living in, but I'm positive it's the future and we humans from 2011 are from the "Wrecker times."

Saba, the main character, lives in a world ruled by the evil Tonton, but she doesn't know it until she makes her way out of the secluded Silverlake to rescue her brother, who was taken by the Tonton. 

I don't really know why they say Hunger Games fans will like this book, because it is NOTHING like the Hunger Games. Nothing at all, it's way better. The only similarity is that they are both Dystopian novels. I mean, I am a Hunger Games fan and I did love this book.. but they aren't similar at all.

The plot is the place where I have my only negatives from this book. The first 100 pages bored me to death. I was starting to regret buying it, because it was just boring. But they always say, give the book at least 50-100 pages to get exciting. And that rule definitely applies with this book. After I got to page 101, it started picking up and rousing my interest more. So if you read this and hate it during the first 100 pages, don't worry, it gets better! After that, you are totally hooked! 

The dialogue... oh my gosh... it is so unique! I like can't even describe it.. so I'll give you an example.

"Because everythin's set. It's all fixed.The lives of everybody who's ever bin born.The lives of everybody still waitin to be born.It was all set in the stars the moment the world began. The time of yer birthin, the time of yer death. Even what kind of person yer gonna be, good or bad.If you know how to read the stars, you can read the story of people's lives. The story of yer own life. What's gone, what's now an what's still to come.Because you cain't change what's written."

See, it's like she's southern I guess. Some kind of foreign draw. Everyone in the book talks like that.

Oh and another thing I should warn you about-

There are no quotation marks. In the entire book. One set, was all I found. 

How? You may be asking. You need quotation marks for when the characters talk! 

That's what I am still thinking. But, they just aren't there! Sometimes it's hard to tell when it's talking or not, but you catch on eventually. 

It drove me nuts for the first like 50 pages. The accent and the lack of quotation marks. That's another thing that makes this book so unique!

I'm still confused though on why Moria Young thought she could just break the "rule" of using quotation marks. I mean, why didn't she? Evie, you're the only person I know who read this, why do you think it is? 

So yeah, the plot is just amazing. Action filled, romance, friendship, excitement, fear, love, and everything! 

Setting- The most unique and crazy place in the fictional world. They go to many places in this futuristic dystopian society, I'd tell you them but it would give a lot away. Just know that these places are evil and crazy. But they fit the story so well. The whole idea that Saba came from such a secluded place and has never been anywhere else in her life is really cool. So, it's all new to her like it's new to us as well. She takes it all in pretty well though.

Theme- Hm. I wasn't thinking about this at all as I read it. I think a big theme of this book is definitely trust. Saba had to learn trust to do many things in this book, which I won't give away. Keeping promises could be a theme too, but I guess you have to trust that someone will keep their promise. So it all goes back to trust.

Characters- Oh my goodness, where do I start? All of the characters are so interesting and different. You fall in love with them right away.  

Saba. She's such a fierce warrior. I love her. At some points she annoyed me with her stubbornness and rudeness, but I guess it's just part of her character. She loves her twin brother Lugh so much, she risks her life to go find him. She is an amazing main character. She portrayed everything so well.

Jack. Mmmmm.. Jack... I love him! He is the perfect romance character. I found myself yelling at him and Saba, KISS KISS KISS! Gah! He was strong and sexy and I just love him! I love his attitude and the way he teased Saba. He was also a great character.

The Free Hawks! I wish I was a Free Hawk! They were so fierce, tough, and awesome warriors! All the characters, major and minor, good and bad, were all amazing!

Cover- I love the cover! It has such symbolism in the story. I'm girl on the cover is Saba I assume, and she is holding the heart stone, which is so important in the story too. The cover also gives me a great mental picture of the world that they live in. It's very eye catching and I'd pick it up off a shelf.

Overall- I'm so glad I read this book. It was such a different read and refreshing. I found myself rooting for the characters, and being afraid when they were afraid. Or tense when they were tense. Moria Young gets the emotions across really well. Other than it being boring for the first 100 pages, and me getting annoyed with Saba at times, I have no other negatives. I highly recommend this to people who like Dystopian books, because this is such a great one! Now.. when does the next book come out? I want it now! Ahh!
Even though I said the lack of quotation marks and language annoyed me at first, it actually became something I loved about this book. It wouldn't be the same if the dialogue was normal.

So, I give this book 5/5 stars. It is now one of my favorites and I highly recommend you all read it!

The next Reader's Ramble I do will be on Miss Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children!