Saba lives in a dead land by a dried-up lake. Then strangers come fer her brother Lugh. Her pa gits shot, and they take Lugh away, leavin Saba with her sister Emmi. Alone. Afeared. She sets out after him, down a long an dusty track an on her first true adventure. Travels through a desert and to a sprawlin city. Meets a beautiful boy she don’t have time fer thinkin bout. She don’t know ezzackly where they took Lugh, but she cain’t stop until she’s found him, an she cain’t rely on nobody but herself.

If that first paragraph disturbed you, take a moment and consider this: this is the style that fills all 459 pages of Moira Young’s novel Blood Red Road. Saba tells her story with raw emotion and sometimes brutal honesty, and with no regard for grammatical conventions. It took me a little while to get used to the style, but then I found myself wondering why more books aren’t written this way.

What struck me even more than the unusual style, however, was the unfiltered power of Saba’s story as she journeys along her quest and, as in any good quest, discovers much more about herself than she had expected was even possible. With a mixture of adventure, suspense, powerful girl-to-girl friendships and even a flair of romance, Blood Red Road is an intense journey that will appeal to many groups of people.

The next challenge:

Carson, for this next week, I challenge you to read Waterfall by Lisa. T. Bergren. In Waterfall, the Betarrini sisters, Gabi and Lia, accidentally travel through time back to medieval Italy. There, they find a world of knights, battles and faith. I hope you enjoy this book, and maybe it will help you escape to Italy from your stress as well.

On this blog, Emily Dexter and Carson TerBush will put their book recommendations to the test. Each week, one will challenge each other to read a book she has read before and enjoyed. The following week, they will judge the recommended book and then propose the next challenge. They hope to inspire new readers to read some new books. To read more, check out the Café Libro blog at https://hilite.org/category/cafe-libro/.