Blood Red Road by Moira Young

A friend recommended this novel to me, and if this wasn’t the case, I doubt I would have brought it. Luckily, I trusted my friend’s opinion.

After reading the first page of the Kindle sample, I thought the unique writing style and language would be too distracting for me to last through the whole novel. The words are broken, being written more like how they sound than the true English spelling. This fits with the theme of the book – a world where books are antiques and written words are long forgotten.

Thinking of my friend’s love for the book, I continued reading and found that the different writing was refreshing instead of annoying. I wanted to know what happened next!

So what is this book about? It is set in a ruined future, where the majority of the world is desert and has severely deteriorated. The story is told from Saba’s point of view, a very stubborn 18 year old, who has lived isolated with her family her whole life. She is close to her twin brother, and blames her sister for her mother’s death. So when five men kidnap her twin, she promises to find him. The rest of the story is fast paced and full of adventure; this gives you no time to get bored, or put the book down during an uneventful part.

You see the main character, Saba, grow with independence and her willpower is inspiring. However, she isn’t the most likeable person during the majority of the book. You will find yourself willing her to react differently, listen to the people around her, or just stop and think a while. She doesn’t see what is right in front of her. I found this very frustrating at times, but I am a romantic. I put myself in her shoes though: growing up only knowing family members, no sexual or romantic contact, with no experience of life outside her area. You would behaviour similarly for some actions.

I was surprised to hear there was a sequel yet to be released. Although I loved this novel, I’m unsure whether I would like to read the second one. The novel ends in such a way that I found myself continuing it in my mind, playing what will happen. A sequel may be a mistake… I will have to read it and find out!

Saba’s strength and how she develops throughout the novel makes up for these flaws. This novel will send you on an adventure that you have never experienced. The imagery created is strong, and I could picture it like a film in my head. I am very pleased I brought this novel; it is unique and, after reading as many novels as I have, this is a brilliant quality to a story.

4 out of 5 stars!

Malorie Blackman (Noughts & Crosses series)

Noughts & Crosses
An Eye for an Eye (novella)
Knife Edge
Checkmate

Double Cross

Everyone in the world should read these novels! Even if you just read the first book (Noughts & Crosses), although you may not be able to stop! The main theme in the story is racism: white people are Noughts, black people are Crosses. In this world, the Crosses rule over the Noughts. This brings a brilliant perspective and view that shows how different life could be, with only a small reality being changed.

A theme affected by the racism is romance. It is seen as an abomination if a Nought and a Cross was to start a personal relationship; this doesn’t reflect the current world to the younger generation like me, yet you can imagine it causing controversy in the past. As a non-racist person myself and of the younger generation, I could view the situations in the novel with a lack of prejudice towards the characters.

These novels show how stupid racism is, and how it can cause unnecessary violence where there should only be peace. Being a romantic, I personally preferred the, well, romance, especially in the first novel and ongoing throughout the others. However, there is definitely action in these too! There is devious plans of terrorism from the Noughts, whilst Callie Rose (a mix-raced and mislead girl) struggles in life, her mother (Sephy) tries to heal her broken heart, her grandmothers (Meggie and Jasmine) try to heal the family. This struggle is down to the conflict between Noughts and Crosses, and made much worse by Jude’s meddling (Callie Rose’s uncle). Callum (the main male character) is present throughout the book, always in the background of the thoughts and actions of the characters, if not physically there.

The story is set in the first novel, and you see the outcome of this resolve throughout the other three in the series. The series is very heartfelt and touching, with many moments when you will laugh, cry, or just plain enjoy it. I loved following the whole world, and it was written so well that you feel like you lived the lives with them. A top series and a must read!

Coming Soon... Recently read

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick.

I brought this after seeing it advertised, and as it was relatively cheap to buy for my kindle (at the time! It has doubled now). The most annoying thing about this book was that it left you on a cliff-hanger! As I will now leave you on one... You will have to wait for my review, and whether you should invest money into this book.

Keep an eye out! It's coming soon...