My Life in YA

Actual rating 2.5 stars For me, one of the most important things while reading a book is that I have to like the main character. In this case I didn’t like the main character Saba, so that’s why I didn’t enjoy Blood Red Road. Of course liking someone, even someone fictional is entirely personal, so I will try to explain in this review why I didn’t like her. For a start, I don’t like Saba’s relationship with her siblings. Her brother Lugh is everything to her, so much so that she idolizes him. But, because the story revolves around Saba trying to rescue the kidnapped Lugh, you don’t really get to see this bond they have. Therefore I couldn’t really empathize with her, why she was so adamant to go through so much to find him. While Saba idolizes Lugh, she really, really dislikes Emmi (maybe even hates her). She basically treats Emmi like crap, only because she blames her for their mother’s death. I can only imagine how horrible Emmi must feel. Emmi is such a great character! I found her to be braver than Saba, because she’s so young and still does everything (even stupid things) to be able to help. To me, while reading Saba also came across as unfriendly, distrusting and jealous. This mostly showed during any interaction with secondary characters. Because on their journey to find Lugh, Saba and Emmi meet a bunch of other people who join them in their quest. These secondary characters are great. You’ve got villains who are truly believable like the King, the menacing Mrs. Pinch who dominates her husband, who isn’t as evil as Mrs. Pinch but is too afraid of her to do any good. Besides them, there are also good people who help Emmi and Saba. Like the Free Hawks, a group of girl soldiers trying to do things for the greater good. I especially liked Ash, one of the Free Hawks who join Saba until the end and I wish she was featured more! Another character is Jack, who is also Saba’s love interest in this novel. I didn’t get their romance at all. I didn’t even particularly like Jack, but even though I think Ash is a much better match for him.And for those who’ve read the book: the moonstone thing? I thought it was way too easy and it made the romance unbelievable. Despite me not liking Saba, the biggest issue I had while reading this book was the language. Saba has a sort of dialect and the novel is written in this dialect. I couldn’t stand this! I was always trying to pronounce in my head the words I read. I have to say that I’m Dutch so English isn’t my native tongue, so that could have influenced my issues with reading in this dialect. Blood Red Road is a fast-paced novel, with some exciting action scenes (with giant worms!) and well-written secondary characters. In the end, I didn’t like reading this book from Saba’s perspective and in her dialect so I won’t be reading the next in the series. I also don’t get the need for more books; this read feels more like a stand-alone.