Blood Red Road (Dust Lands #1) by Moira 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.
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.Hardcover, 459 pages  Published June 7th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

I'm not going to lie, this book does take awhile to get used to the writing. The dialect took me at least half of the book to get used to. But I loved how much growth we see in the main character Saba. She is strong, smart and determined. A worthy heroine that I think everybody will really enjoy reading about.

Out of the blue one day a gang shows up to Saba's house and not only kidnaps her brother, leaves her father dead and the kids orphans.  Saba and her little sister take off to track down Lugh and rescue him. At first Saba is not happy about the fact she is stuck with her naive, childish little sister who she's never given any attention to. Lugh has been her life since they were born, twins and incomplete without each other.

The story is very fast paced, constant traveling in the beginning. Dangerous encounters with both people and creatures of this dangerous landscape. Soon Saba finds herself captured and used for entertainment as a cage-fighter. But their time is running out and she soon finds she only has so long to get to Lugh before something will happen to him.

Not only is Saba an amzingly strong character, her little sister soon becomes a threat of her own. They learn weaponry and have to think on their feet. There is a love interest, Jack that appears later in the novel. This story is very plot driven as all Saba thinks about repeatedly is finding Lugh in time.

I do recommend the audiobook narrated by Heather Lind for those that maybe questioning the writing style used. She does an awesome job narrating and makes it a very enjoyable listen.

5 stars!!