Rebel Heart by Moira Young

You can read my review of the first book in the Dustlands series, Blood Red Road, here. I LOVE THESE BOOKS. It's a little frustrating to me that this series doesn't seem to get much press. Be warned, there are some spoilers for the first book here.

Rebel Heart picks up after Blood Red Road, after Saba has found Lugh. There was a battle. Many were lost. Jack left Saba to inform Molly the tavern owner that her beloved won't be coming back. Meanwhile, Saba, Lugh, and Emmi are travelling west, towards lands untouched by the Tonton army.

Unfortunately, Lugh is acting like an a-hole, plain and simple. He accuses Saba of being blinded by her love for Jack, he whines that she didn't rescue him sooner (She was a little busy cage fighting!), and then he pretty much says that she is a slut who Jack is using for sex. I think he might have just had some really traumatic experiences during his captivity, but it's not really a good excuse. Get over yourself, Lugh.

Poor Saba is busy being haunted by dead people. In the battle at the end of Blood Red Road, Saba ended up having to kill one of the Nighthawks (A group of female rebels) so that the enemy wouldn't capture and torture her. Because of this, Saba can hardly shoot her bow and arrow. It's also one of the reasons that Lugh gets frustrated with her. Saba stops sleeping and eating, and she's just a mess. She sees all the people that she killed around her constantly.

After the fall of Vicar Pinch and his army, his second in command DeMalo gains control. The Tontons have been recruiting the young and able-bodied to repopulate the land, killing those less young and able-bodied. DeMalo has his sights set on Saba. The army has instructions to bring her straight to him, because he kind of has a crush on her. Just to complicate things more, there are rumors that Jack has been riding with the Tonton army, and then he shows up with them and takes her sister!

There's so much going on in this book. It really is almost as good as Blood Red Road. My main complaint is that there is less Jack, and Jack isn't quite as funny. Since his main plot involves telling a woman that the love of her life is dead, this is understandable. The story progresses nicely in this book, and I am majorly pumped to read the third book in the series. With the way everything seems to go in the first two, I'd be surprised if anyone makes it out alive.

I received my copy of Rebel Heart from Edelweiss, courtesy of Margaret K. McElderry Books. It's available now in hardcover. Blood Red Road is available in paperback.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

I must say, Blood Red Road exceeded my expectations. It sounds like a simple story about a girl in a dystopian wasteland searching for her twin brother. Then you get the complicated family dynamics, and the cage fighting, and the bantering with the love interest. It turns into something great, and I personally can't wait for a second book.

Saba is distraught when the men come and take away her twin brother Lugh. Seriously, she is creepy-close with him and I was a little worried about a twin-cest situation. Fortunately, that doesn't go down. Saba sets off to rescue her brother, vowing to stop at nothing.

Unfortunately, she gets saddled with her younger sister Emmi. Their mother died giving birth to Emmi. Saba has always resented her sister for killing their mother. Their complicated relationship was one of the highlights of the book.

Then there was Jack, my favorite part of the book. Saba was given a heartstone, a necklace that would give off heat when the object of her heart's desire was around. She thought that would be Lugh, but then she encountered a cocky guy named Jack, a guy who was able to hold his own with her. Almost every line out of Jack's mouth had me laughing and grinning like an idiot. It was enough to make me jealous of Saba, despite the dystopian landscape, stolen brother, and myriad troubles.

When I first started reading Blood Red Road, I was put off by the style of the language. It's very primitive, there are misspellings and poor grammar. Once I really got into the plot, though, I found myself flying over all the words, barely noticing mistakes. If you find yourself wanting to give up, just keep in mind that the book gets really good and the language will becom less of an issue when everything goes down.