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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved it, and couldn't put it down... for anything. (It's 2am my time and I should have been asleep already, but I couldn't stop without knowing how it ended.)
I must admit that the language was a bit off-putting at first; it really is difficult to get "into," but after the first thirty or so pages, I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't really mind. It is not a style choice that I like, precisely, but as I got used to it, I found it easier to deal with, and by the end I barely noticed.
Anyway, think... Fallout* meets Mad Max** meets Hunger Games*** meets Gladiator, and you might have something resembling this book.
I'll share a more... thoughtful review later, once it's had a bit of time to process.
______________________
* Yes, I do mean the Fallout Game franchise. You're a wasteland wanderer, and have recently left a relatively sheltered existence. The society you're about to confront is fairly alien to you, and has sprung up from the remains of a prosperous society which has disappeared.
** I was going to extrapolate on this, but I think you'll have to draw your own parallels here. I kept picturing Mad Max-style raiders though.
*** Saba is no Katniss. But there are scenes of survival and the brutal survival for struggle. And cage matches. And archery. And, well, it did remind me a bit of Hunger Games.
I must admit that the language was a bit off-putting at first; it really is difficult to get "into," but after the first thirty or so pages, I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't really mind. It is not a style choice that I like, precisely, but as I got used to it, I found it easier to deal with, and by the end I barely noticed.
Anyway, think... Fallout* meets Mad Max** meets Hunger Games*** meets Gladiator, and you might have something resembling this book.
I'll share a more... thoughtful review later, once it's had a bit of time to process.
______________________
* Yes, I do mean the Fallout Game franchise. You're a wasteland wanderer, and have recently left a relatively sheltered existence. The society you're about to confront is fairly alien to you, and has sprung up from the remains of a prosperous society which has disappeared.
** I was going to extrapolate on this, but I think you'll have to draw your own parallels here. I kept picturing Mad Max-style raiders though.
*** Saba is no Katniss. But there are scenes of survival and the brutal survival for struggle. And cage matches. And archery. And, well, it did remind me a bit of Hunger Games.
Blood Red Road is one of those books that I kept meaning to read but never really got around to... until now, when the SRC told me I needed to read a book with a color in the title and... there you are.
Thank God for the SRC.
This was a fast-paced romp in YA post-apocalyptic bordering on dystopian literature that gives you all the grit and horror of a society thrown into chaos while still preserving the passion of young love and the courage of the human spirit.
Saba's twin brother, Lugh, is kidnapped from the only home they have ever known under mysterious circumstances. Along with her little sister Emi, Saba sets off to rescue him. Along the way, she is enslaved as a cage fighter, joins a gang of rebels called the Free Hawks, has her first kiss, and sets a man on fire.
Pretty fun stuff.
The dialect of the book is rough and riddled with slang, and the author uses no quotation marks to distinguish conversation. But - the action is so swift, he reader becomes completely immersed in the world and quickly falls into the plot despite the language.
I already have books two and three on hold at the library.
Four stars.
Thank God for the SRC.
This was a fast-paced romp in YA post-apocalyptic bordering on dystopian literature that gives you all the grit and horror of a society thrown into chaos while still preserving the passion of young love and the courage of the human spirit.
Saba's twin brother, Lugh, is kidnapped from the only home they have ever known under mysterious circumstances. Along with her little sister Emi, Saba sets off to rescue him. Along the way, she is enslaved as a cage fighter, joins a gang of rebels called the Free Hawks, has her first kiss, and sets a man on fire.
Pretty fun stuff.
The dialect of the book is rough and riddled with slang, and the author uses no quotation marks to distinguish conversation. But - the action is so swift, he reader becomes completely immersed in the world and quickly falls into the plot despite the language.
I already have books two and three on hold at the library.
Four stars.
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
I was so disappointed by Blood Red Road!
I'll give you two reasons that I believe contributed to it.
1) I wasn't reading it when it came out. In 2012, it was a completely different landscape for YA Dystopian fiction. This was the height of our obsession, and I think I might have been more excited if I had read this book back when I wasn't judging dystopian books so tough.
2) The audiobook sucked. No offense to the narrator, but I wasn't really digging the way that she read. There was a lot of action and yelling in this book. Normally, I don't really notice the way that narrators portray yelling, but this narrator did a "whisper-yell" that was really bothersome to me. If we're in a high pressure moment, I'm not down with you whispering "Jack" and pretending that it's yelling.
I'll give you two reasons that I believe contributed to it.
1) I wasn't reading it when it came out. In 2012, it was a completely different landscape for YA Dystopian fiction. This was the height of our obsession, and I think I might have been more excited if I had read this book back when I wasn't judging dystopian books so tough.
2) The audiobook sucked. No offense to the narrator, but I wasn't really digging the way that she read. There was a lot of action and yelling in this book. Normally, I don't really notice the way that narrators portray yelling, but this narrator did a "whisper-yell" that was really bothersome to me. If we're in a high pressure moment, I'm not down with you whispering "Jack" and pretending that it's yelling.
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm a sucker for a good dystopian thriller, and this doesn't disappoint! Bonus points for the author being Canadian and it being her FIRST BOOK. My only criticism is that there were some cliche moments, one in-particular reminded me of the scene with the guards at the castle of the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. (Anyone else? Oh-wee-oh. Ohh-oh. Oh-wee-oh. No?) But a great read and I'm reading on!!
Yes, I am reading yet another YA title, and honestly the only reason I keep doing it is the idea that maybe this time I'll run across something unique and interesting. Variations on a theme aren't bad as long as they do something new with them. For a while, this book seemed to do that. It took a different direction on the first-person narrative by having the main character not speak grammatically correct, the set-up was good and the world was harsh. But then the tired and over-used teen fiction cliches kicked in.
Maybe I've just read too many of these, but I am just so sick of how YA deals with romance. I hate how so many of them are these "fated" romances where there's an immediate connection. I actually groaned when the heartstone got hot around the love interest. Author, do you really expect me to believe that the heart's desire of this young woman is a boy?! And what made it worse was how Jack behaved. He was very cocky, kissing her without permission, acting like he knew better than her how to treat her younger sister, pursued her despite her pushing him off and telling him "no", manipulating things so they would sleep next to each other... and she develops feelings for this guy? Are you kidding me?
If he was left completely out of the story, I feel like it would've been much better. The book was doing so well until he showed up. It felt like his only purpose was to be the love interest. You could argue that he saved her life a few times and brought her to her brother, but so what? Anybody could've done that, and without being a jerk about it while trying to charm his way into her pants. Was there even any chemistry between them? If there was, I sure didn't pick up on it. As far as I noticed, it was: boy is the first good-looking boy she ever saw, boy acts like a jackass, girl pushes him off, repeat until they decide to make out because they want each other that bad. Maybe I'm not the right age for this, but I want to believe even teenagers know this isn't how relationships are supposed to work.
But as I said, the rest of it was good. I loved the world-building and seeing how people function in this world. I loved the cage fighting and the Free Hawks, Saba's devotion to her brother and her character arc with her sister... basically everything else except for the romance. Sure Jack left at the end but this is YA, so there's probably going to be a forced love triangle in the next book. I know I should probably quit YA, but I keep hoping for that diamond to shine through. Sadly, this book was not it.
Maybe I've just read too many of these, but I am just so sick of how YA deals with romance. I hate how so many of them are these "fated" romances where there's an immediate connection. I actually groaned when the heartstone got hot around the love interest. Author, do you really expect me to believe that the heart's desire of this young woman is a boy?! And what made it worse was how Jack behaved. He was very cocky, kissing her without permission, acting like he knew better than her how to treat her younger sister, pursued her despite her pushing him off and telling him "no", manipulating things so they would sleep next to each other... and she develops feelings for this guy? Are you kidding me?
If he was left completely out of the story, I feel like it would've been much better. The book was doing so well until he showed up. It felt like his only purpose was to be the love interest. You could argue that he saved her life a few times and brought her to her brother, but so what? Anybody could've done that, and without being a jerk about it while trying to charm his way into her pants. Was there even any chemistry between them? If there was, I sure didn't pick up on it. As far as I noticed, it was: boy is the first good-looking boy she ever saw, boy acts like a jackass, girl pushes him off, repeat until they decide to make out because they want each other that bad. Maybe I'm not the right age for this, but I want to believe even teenagers know this isn't how relationships are supposed to work.
But as I said, the rest of it was good. I loved the world-building and seeing how people function in this world. I loved the cage fighting and the Free Hawks, Saba's devotion to her brother and her character arc with her sister... basically everything else except for the romance. Sure Jack left at the end but this is YA, so there's probably going to be a forced love triangle in the next book. I know I should probably quit YA, but I keep hoping for that diamond to shine through. Sadly, this book was not it.
Sorry, did not finish this book in the slightest. I couldn't get past the first few pages. The narrator in this story talked like the girl in [b:Push|71332|Push|Sapphire|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/418wgguEfOL._SL75_.jpg|69081]. And like in that book, it was just too painful to read. Might pick it up again some day but for now it remains unrated.