So, I'm not really sure whats up with this, but most of the hot action in the bastard-child-the-Literary-world-would-like-to-forget world of sci-fi seems to be going on in a strange little sub-basement... Young-Adult, Dystopia. I'd blame it on the Hunger Games movie, but it's been going on for longer than that. I've reviewed no small number of them lately, despite the fact that I don't usually read YA* simply because they've been strongly recommended to me. To my surprise, I've found they make a nice change; fast, effortless reads that still have great action and compelling characters. And the best of them really are no different from the lighter side of the sci-fi genre, with the major exceptions that the main character is inevitably a teen and they usually avoid sexual situations. 
 I picked up Blood Red Road (Dust Lands #1) along the same lines. I've been reading a lot of heavy historicals/nonfiction and wanted to change the pace up. Also it's about that time of year, and as the resident "book person" in my circles, it's good to know what to recommend for friends to buy their children as holiday gifts. And once again, I was surprised at the high quality of the writing. 
 Where were you authors when I was thirteen, huh? I had to muddle through with cheesy romances! 
 Young's characters become fully three dimensional in a few short lines. She has chosen to use phonetic spellings in her dialog, which may throw younger readers, but actually makes the characters voices ring true to their setting- a post-undefined-apocalypse without engines or electricity, where the land is largely a ruined desert. It's a fairly typical there-and-back-again plot, with a powerful feminist twist, as our heroine, Saba heads into the waste to rescue her kidnapped twin brother. 
 Young has made no excuses for having a powerful, capable female protagonist. Some seem to feel that the only way to have a girl in the hot seat is by forcing her into a desperation situation where there are no males left to take up the quest. That is still the case here; we're left with no male options, but we're spared the wretched hand-wringing scene where the girl takes on the duty that the menfolk should handle if any were left alive. Saba just packs up her stuff and her little sister, and heads out to do what must be done. We run into a little light romance along the way, but nothing hot and heavy. 
 Now the second installment, Rebel Heart, has a slightly different feel. There's a little more hand-wringing here, but not obnoxiously so. Saba now has to contend with her twin, who can't seem to cope with his sister's new-found leadership abilities. The love interest, having gone off to do the honorable thing in the last novel, is MIA, and seems to have gone over to the Enemy, but has messaged her to meet him. So, some of that nice feminist work takes a backseat to the 'I have to get to my man' plot line. But in a realistic turn, the golden touch has left Saba this time around, and she can't get anything right. 
 Surprisingly, this second novel does take up some sexual situations, and not even the usual romancy-type ones. It's not that they're graphic. More like the kind that results in an "It's Complicated" Facebook relationship status. Rebel Heart's over-arching theme seems to be an exploration of love itself. Part of that theme is sex, and the uncomfortable fact that the two can be separated, or indeed, unrelated. The first novel, I would say, could be enjoyed by readers as young as twelve, but parents may want to wait on this series, considering those parts which may be inappropriate for younger teens who may not be emotionally mature enough to handle that concept**. 
 Overall, I'd recommend these for more mature teens and to adults looking for a quick fun ride. I'll definitely be picking up the final piece of the trilogy when it's published. 
 * Not because of them being "kids books" but because I usually tear through them too fast and I'm left hungry. 
 ** Or indeed, avoided altogether by those parents who choose to base their handling of these matters in a faith-based manner.