ARC Review: Rebel Heart (Dustlands #2) by Moira Young
*a review copy received from publisher and Edelweis — thanks!*
Want to win a copy of Rebel Heart? How about a Dust Lands prize pack that also includes a water bottle? Play below!
Rating: 3.5 Stars/Grade B
Blurb:
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.
Review:
Rebel Heart should be very rewarding for fans of the Dust Lands series. It begins with action, ends with action and has a lot of action throughout. We gots lots of Lugh and lots of Saba – -and hey, all through Blood Red Road we wanted Lugh, right? I could not put down the first 40% of this book. It was surprising, gripping and just fun.
Young develops the mythology and adds some interesting elements to Rebel Heart. The authority in control of the settlements and land are brutal; to demonstrate this brutalness are some heartbreaking and gruesome scenes. The loss that began in Blood Red Road continues in Rebel Heart, which I guess is realistic considering the setting. I did have some questions about the convenience of things happening, things they witnessed and people they ran into … similar to my thoughts on Blood Red Road.
I listened to Blood Red Road and I read Rebel Heart. The narration for the first one was done really well and as I read Rebel Heart, I often missed the voice of Saba. I recommend to people who started this book in audio, to continue in audio.
I didn’t love Blood Red Road, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t ground breaking for me. In the end it was a decent young adult dystopia novel with a splash of angsty romance. I would say the same about Rebel Heart. Rebel Heart continues down that path but turns that splash of angsty romance into more of a pouring in or mixing of angsty romance. There is a lot of longing, misunderstandings, and miscommunications. Several men/boys want Saba, but she only has eyes for Jack — but where is Jack? Jack is nowhere to be found and that was the frustrating part of this book. I wanted more Jack. Romance is not my favorite genre and I dislike tension created by miscommunication and misunderstanding — but despite that I still enjoyed parts of Rebel Heart. It is a fun adventure book with a mature dose of romance scenes (pre-teens should stay away there is sex in this book — sorry as a mom of a 13 year old girl, I can’t stop being a mom.).
I think fans of Blood Red Road will really like Rebel Heart. Readers lukewarm about Blood Red Road, will likely not be that excited about Rebel Heart. Readers critical of the coinicdences in the first book, may have the same problems with this book. But … there are some really rewarding scenes and the tension that builds in the beginning of the book is done well.
Rating:
Enter here to win a Dust Lands prize pack which includes a water bottle and a copy of Rebel Heart!
© 2012, Badass Book Reviews. All rights reserved Please do not copy reviews or content from this site
Share and Enjoy
Regina
I am a book reader & reviewer by hobby; I read any genre, any type of fiction and non fiction. More importantly I am coffee addict, a chocoholic and a Just Dance 3 fan.
I don’t really have a favorite
Divergent! Thank you:)
One of the first dystopian novel I’ve read is also one of my favorite. 1984. It really had me thinking about Big Brother. I also like the Aftertime books.
I tweeed: https://twitter.com/FieryNa/status/263270740479062017
Classic dystopian: 1984. One of my newer dystopian favorites is The Passage by Justin Cronin.
I love the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld!
The Divergent series
Hunger Games and Delirium series! Thanks!
Battle Royale, Uglies and (of course!) Blood Red Road!!!!!
My favorite is probably the Divergent series.
my fav would have to be Eve or Under The Never Sky!
I love eve and once by anna carey and Under the never sky!!!!
I love Divergent! Also, Blood Red Road
Chaos Walkng trilogy by Patrick Ness!