Friday, October 26, 2012

Review: Rebel Heart by Moira Young

Posted by

Rebel Heart
Moira Young
Series: Dust Lands, #2
Publication date: October 30th 2012
by Margaret K. McElderry

 

It seemed so simple: Defeat the Tonton, rescue her kidnapped brother, Lugh, and then order would be restored to Saba’s world. Simplicity, however, has proved to be elusive. Now, Saba and her family travel west, headed for a better life and a longed-for reunion with Jack. But the fight for Lugh’s freedom has unleashed a new power in the dust lands, and a formidable new enemy is on the rise.

What is the truth about Jack? And how far will Saba go to get what she wants? In this much-anticipated follow-up to the riveting Blood Red Road, a fierce heroine finds herself at the crossroads of danger and destiny, betrayal and passion.

*A copy was provided by Random House of Canada for review purposes*
The long anticipated sequel to Blood Red Road is finally here! Rebel Heart reacquaints us with our stubborn and fierce protagonist, Saba, after she found her brother, after Jack left her, after everything has become so complicated. And the fact that she is seeing things, things that aren’t there, is not making it easier.

What I enjoyed the most from the first book is what has been the most polarized; you either love the writing style, or you hate it. Myself, I looked forward to being propelled inside this vivid, desolate world again by a writing style that truly makes it come alive. As much as some may find it hard to get into, I find it powerfully characteristic. It gives the book a very tangible atmosphere. You are not reading a story, you are being told a story. It still remains the most unique and best aspect of this series.

In this sequel, the characters we have come to know are back, but they aren’t quite the same. Saba herself was turned from a strong, unstoppable character to this emotional mess. Yes she has gone through a huge ordeal and I’m glad that Moira didn’t turn away from the emotional circumstances, but she has to stop thinking only of Jack for 5 seconds so she can realize how much she is crippling herself, and bringing her friends down with her. She was never a loveable character –what with her attitude towards her sister in book one–but she was a character I gladly rooted for. All she made me root for in this sequel, was for someone to smack her upside the head. Nonetheless, I like her, I do. She is flawed and real, no matter how frustrated she made me. As far as the side characters go, some of them definitely have grown–Tommo for one–but it wouldn’t have hurt to get a little more character breakthroughs. I’m still waiting to see what Lugh’s problem is; what made him so bitter. Basically, I love all the side characters so much that I’m dying to get more face time with them. I need their stories! I’m even drawn to the mysterious villain with which we make fascinating plot progress.

As Blood Red Road is in action, Rebel Heart is in emotion. There are not many intense scenes and dramatic situations such as we saw in high numbers in Blood Red Road. No cage fighting, no crossings filled with killer worms, sadly, nothing of the sort. We do get oodles of emotional distraught, hormone filled angst, and love. Lots and lots of love. No love triangle though, more like a love… waiting list? Saba is plenty busy with them boys. As much as I enjoyed all these emotions running amok, it turned the book–which I was expecting to be fun and action packed like the first–a lot more broody, and much more slower pace. For this reason, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I was hoping.

It isn’t a bad book, by any means, proven by my 4 stars, and actually by itself I would have loved it. It’s raw, gritty and emotionally intense, slowly filling its space with cruelty and trauma. But when I sit there and compare it to the first, when I go in expecting a sequel on a par with its predecessor that stifled me with exhaustion, end after end, and made me feel the never ending longing for something other than…. nothingness, it has nothing on it. 

4 Hot Espressos

 The Dustland series:
  

The following two tabs change content below.

Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

Latest posts by Giselle (see all)

22 Responses to “Review: Rebel Heart by Moira Young”

  1. Mary @ BookSwarm

    WOOT! I can’t wait to read this one because BLOOD RED ROAD just completely blew me away. I love that there’s so much emotion involved in this newest installation. LURVE, angst, pain…yeah. Can’t WAIT!!

  3. Aylee

    Ooh yes, I ‘m excited to return back to the writing style, too! It really added personality to the book. I’m glad you liked this book overall… less glad that it was slower paced and Saba was a bit annoying. BUT I’m still looking forward to it and its emotional intensity!! Excellent review, Giselle!

  6. Amy

    I can’t wait for this book!! I loved the writing style of the first book. Blood Red Road was amazing, so I can’t imagine that this can be as awesome as that, but it still sounds really great!! It’s hard going into a book with high expectations. I’m glad you really enjoyed this one even with the slower pace and a bit of annoyance with Saba!! Fab review sweet cheeks!! 😉

  7. Bonnie R

    Fantastic review! But… no killer worms? That makes me sad. Those totally made book 1. haha! Still looking forward to this one but it’ll be good to know that I shouldn’t wait for the killer worms to pop out (because I totally would have). 🙂

  8. russell1200

    I became distracted and moved onto other things right before Blood Red Road is supposed to get interesting – when she gets to the city of the Evil Overlord.

    I very rarely intentionally abandon a work of fiction, so maybe I should pick it up again.

  9. Steph (Poetry to Prose)

    I, unfortunately, didn’t like this one much — though I LOVED BRR — but I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! I had issues with Saba, too, and I was more than a little annoyed by Lugh. Sigh. Hopefully the third book will pick up for me!

  12. Jesse Burgoyne

    I’m really glad you liked this. I’ve heard wonderful things about it, but I’ve also heard that it was just terrible, which really scared me because BRR was incredible and I really wanted Rebel Heart to be just as good. Your review has definitely given me hope, but it’s also prepared me for the change of pace in the story. Great review 🙂

    Jesse @ Pretty in Fiction

  14. Megan K.

    I’ve actually got BLOOD RED ROAD sitting on my shelf right now, but I haven’t had the time to get started on it yet. I agree that the writing style takes a little getting used to, but yes! It really brings the story alive! Your review of REBEL HEART makes me want to start reading BRR now. 😛 So glad you enjoyed it! Sometimes all characters need to get smacked on the head, eh?

    Lovely review, Giselle!

  15. The Teen Book Guru

    I totally know what you mean! Although I gave Rebel Heart 5 muffins, I understand that it didn’t quite live up to Blood Red Road, but I really enjoyed it by itself and I guess I didn’t go out and compare the two because I knew that it would have to be amazing to be on par with BRR. Lovely review! And YES, Saba isn’t perfect but that’s what’s so great about her!! Great revere, Giselle! <3

  18. Nori

    I felt the same way! Blood Red Road was just beyond amazing!. And this one was just a totally different kind of read for me. I still really, really enjoyed it. It just was not the same, not quite as good as I was expecting. Plus, how much did you just hate Lugh?

  19. Anna @ Literary Exploration

    I definitely agree that this one didn’t live up to Blood Red Road, but I still really enjoyed it. I think Saba’s emotional issues made her more realistic, but it also made her less of that intense female protag that would stop at nothing to get her brother back. And Lugh just sucked so bad. UGH. She should have let him rot.

    Anna
    Literary Exploration

  20. Christina

    Planning to read this, so I couldn’t read the review, but four stars! Good start. Too bad it’s not five. Sounds like Lugh annoyed you too.

    *kicks Lugh*