Author: Moira Young
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Cd: 9 dics
Source: Library
Format: Audiobook
Rating: ★★★★
Summary From Goodreads: 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.
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.
This book has been getting a lot of good buzz so when I saw the audiobook at the library I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did because I was blown away.
Saba is one of those heroines that will capture your heart. She's fierce, protective, smart, hot-tempered and persistent. When her father is killed and her brother, Lugh, is kidnapped she will stop at nothing to go find him. She has to overcome many obstacles along her way, and though she doesn't need help, she finds it in some unlikely allies. While I'm never quite sure what to think of the rugged Jack, I did feel he was deeply connected to the story. As soon as he was introduced I knew for certain that he would impact Saba's journey in some way.
The Freek Hawks were some amazing ladies. If I was Saba I would have run away with them and fought by their side. They were loyal and yet very determined ladies who had a mission. They kind of reminded me of Artemis's hunters, except more rugged and warrior like.
The only thing I wasn't fond of in this novel is Saba's worshipping of Lugh. I felt like Lugh was too good to be true and I wanted to see his flaws to create more depth to his character. Everytime she defended Lugh, I felt a stab in my heart for Jack. I felt like she put Lugh on a pedistal and no one could reach his "goodness." I'm not buying it. I wanted to see him lash out or turn bad or something, he was just too plain for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this book and would highly recommend it.
I loved this book except that reading the whole thing in dialect was enough to drive me nuts! I understood the purpose of it, but it's still hard to read that many misspelled words and that much bad grammar for so many pages. Whew.
ReplyDeleteStill, it was a fine tale, and I'll be reading the sequel for sure.
@ Lisa---I'm sure the dialect would be frustrating. I listened to the audiobook so I didn't run into that problem.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books of the year. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI really want to read this book. It just sounds so good. Maybe in the sequel we will find out what the deal with Lugh is. He probably is hiding something. lol. :)
ReplyDelete@ Annette--I really liked this novel too.
ReplyDelete@ Nina--I hope the sequel gives us some dirt of Lugh. Maybe I'm being too cynical and he really is a great guy...or maybe not.
I have also been hearing a storm of positive reviews about this novel, but...I'm sorry. Deteriorating civilization? Angelic sibling? Reugged, romantic interest? I'm starting to percieve this book as a Hunger Games knockoff...
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a good book. I have to read it before the end of the year. Saba sounds awesome! Great review!
ReplyDeleteFunny how you mentioned Saba's worshipping of Lugh. That reminded me of the dynamic between Katniss and Prim, which reminded me of how you didn't like THG, which made me cry all over again.
ReplyDeleteLOL
But yeah, I didn't like the worship stuff that Katniss had going on with Prim either. Made the character seem too ideal, and not real at all. In fact, the only time stuff like this didn't seem odd to me was in Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta. When Jonah said, My brother is my god, I just melted!
But this one does sound like a fun one to try as an audio book.
I prefer my heros to be flawed. Flawed = human. Great review! Sounds like a pretty good book.
ReplyDeleteI loved this book so much, but I agree with your opinion of Lugh: he was too good to be true, and we didn't see enough of his character first-hand to understand why Saba loved him so deeply.
ReplyDelete- Alyssa of Redhead Heroines
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