Audio Book Review: Blood Red Road

Blood Red Road (Dustlands, 1) written by Moira Young, read by Heather Lind, 2011. Discs: 9. Hours:  . Published by Simon & Schuster Audio. Source: Publisher for review.

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.

First Sentence:

Lugh got born first.

The Story:
I really enjoyed listening to Blood Red Road, so much so that I plan on getting my hands on the actual book in the future.
What really made this a great...listen...was the characters who had a mixture of strength and weakness, the plot which pulled me in from the beginning, and Ms. Young's writing which blew me away.
   I loved the how her writing was kind of stark, and not over gilded. It just pulled me because it let my imagination run wild as I pictured the way things were unfolding. Plus she just captured the fear and loss that Saba went through so well.

I really respect Ms. Young and her writing, especially after finishing BBR. Why, because she didn't pull any punches when it came to her characters. They went through a lot, fighting in the cages, facing terrible work like creatures, and quite a few big dust-ups and they didn't come out unscathed...or at all by the time the book ended. I very nearly cried while listening to BBR when one of the characters died, especially the way it was done. Not that it was done poorly, but it was just so sad the way they died.

Rarely does a characters story pull me so much that all I want is for them to get a happy ending, and Saba did exactly that.
I really enjoyed watching Saba change throughout BBR, and thought that she definitely came along way from being kind of closed off and only caring about her brother Lugh to...a little more personable. I also really enjoyed that how strong of a character she was, it was definitely nice to see how she never gave up on rescuing Lugh or the conviction that she would, even when it seemed impossible. 
    Jack, what can one really say about him without giving away the whole book. I will say this, I didn't think he was going to survive the first book. I loved that the addition of Jack to the storyline brought a little bit of humor, okay, it would probably only make me laugh.
What I really liked about Jack was that he was a mixture between carefree and totally loyal to those he cares about...and that he likes to wing things without a plan.

My absolutely favorite thing about Blood Red Road would have to be Saba and Jack. From the very first time Jack made an appearance in the book I knew that he would be the character that would make me laugh. Plus I really just liked the bantering, arguing, and just the two of them. Basically, Saba and Jack were one of the best things about the book for me, which is interesting since I could usually care less about the MCs romantic life.
   So the one complaint I have against the audio of Blood Red Road would have to be the length of it, which was 11 hours. That's an extremely long time, especially since I was only able to listen while working out and just before bed.

Content (will contain spoilers; highlight to see): Swearing pretty minimal; the few times there was swearing it was used more in we're in a real mess kind of way. Violence is pretty high in BBR, but not too graphic in nature.

Narration:
When Blood Red Road first started I wasn't to sure I would like the way Ms. Lind read it, but within a few tracks I was blown away.
   I loved the way she read, especially her interpretation of Saba. Gosh, she just did a fantastic job and definitely made one or two scenes even sadder with how she added so much emotion to her reading of it.

The thing that had me the most worried going into the audio book of Blood Red Road was the possibility of the reader (Ms. Lind) doing the voices for male characters. While I enjoyed the last audio book read by female, I didn't really enjoy her interpretations of the guys, so I was definitely prepared for the worst, but Ms. Lind did an excellent job of making the guys sound, well, like guys. I loved how each one of them had such distinctive voices, like, Jack's was kind of low and gravelly and the king's had  a high slightly demented quality to it.
  As for her portrayal of Saba, it was just had imagined her sounding after reading the first few pages at B&N one day.

Final Verdict: Blood Red Road was absolutely unbelievable. Definitely made exercising not so tedious.
Blood Red Road (audio) earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.