Review: Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
(Dust Lands #1)
Reviewed by Noelle: June 30, 2011.
Published June 7, 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
Goodreads • Buy at Amazon • Buy at Fishpond • Kindle



I thought this was fun as hell. First of all, as you all know, I adore a good adventure road trip tale. I just love 'em--the stranger the people/lands, the shittier the conditions and the steeper the hardships, the better! There's nothing more entertaining to me than a bunch of random personalities dependent on each other for survival while they are saving the world/defeating evil/[insert epic quest here]. So obviously I was pretty on board after reading the story blurb. Yet, I've been burned in the past so although I was eager, I withheld my full-fledged enthusiasm. 

But then I discovered that not only was Blood Red Road an adventure quest/road trip but it was based on hillbillies in a post-apocalyptic world AND featured a heroine with an anger management issues, a girl gang of revolutionaries, an enigmatic dark knight, a Flynn Ryder-esque hero, and the best dang animal sidekick I've seen in awhile (a crow! that plays dice! and "aint much fer huggin"!) and.....OH HELL YES. 

The heroine was awesomely flawed. A couple times I recoiled with a “DAMN, cold!” to some of the doozies Saba lobbed at her sis but then I imagined being responsible for the physical safety and well being of a 9 year old where the best possible outcomes could be dying of thirst and the worst possibilities included slavery, cage fighting for your life and oh yeah, HELL WORMS. I’d probably lose it once or twice at dear lil' sis myself. 

There were a few things that bugged (the totally unnecessary piece of jewelry for one) but for the most part I could easily overlook them because the story as a whole was such a fun ride. 

I'm not sure if it's a sign that ---ack!--I've lived in the South too long or what, but the dialect didn't bother me one bit. While this book is the first of a series, it has a full and complete plot and could stand on it's own. After reading so many first books that bury you with "this is a trilogy!" exposition, I appreciated Blood Red Road so much. I look forward to the rest of the series.  (Even though reading the sequel's title made me do this.) 

Sidenote: You MUST check out this amazing interpretation of the Free Hawks by foralllove.

Rating: 4/5 stars.