The first half hour of Star Wars: A New Hope, Tank Girl, and a Quentin Tarantino movie. That's what this book was to me. So obviously, this was one of my favorite books of this 100 book year adventure. 
 This book is risky in that it's told 100% through Saba's stream of consciousness; terrible grammar and all. It takes a solid chapter to get into it, but with the right amount of focus her POV is clear and honestly it lends itself to the grit of the world. The accent is a little iffy, I was having a little trouble settling on the actual sound and dialect so I just settled on heavy Australian. 
 Saba is a great character, and since this book goes beyond her voice; it's her stream of consciousness, you have to like her. She has very little self control, tact, or social skills. She is a bit clueless, incredibly violent, and spends half the book screaming or beating the shit out of whoever's closest to her. Yet I adore her. She's obviously a sheltered person who wants to go back to her small, contained life with her brother and family. Obviously, this can't happen. A lot of her character is longing to go back to simpler times while being pulled into new and exciting experiences. 
 My personal issue is that everyone in the book has to lecture Saba about her relationship with her sister. Yes, I understand she was a bit of a hypocrite; she loved her twin brother enough to risk her life constantly but despised the younger sister and wouldn't let her tag along, etc. However, her argument, every step of the way, was correct. Emmi was too young. It was dangerous. Of course it was dangerous. What happens after Emmi rejoins the adventure? Cage fighting, child slavery, journey through the desert and other life-threatening settings. This all BEFORE they reach Vicar Pinch's, where several of the good guys die. Hell yes this was dangerous. And Emmi is constantly distracting Saba from the goal. Yes, were there some parts where they grew close and it was nice? Sure, I will give Moira Young that. But every character needs to tell Saba she's a bad person for trying to leave her eight year old sister somewhere safe while she focused on rescuing their brother. Because she has to love children because it's the right thing to do. They have to be BFFs because it's a GIRL thing. Guilt, judgment and shame, Saba. Jack was the worst with this; honestly, it's the one time I didn't like him. He was a little condescending about their relationship. For a strong female character, Saba was always being "taught a lesson" by Jack. Sometimes it worked. She needed to soften her personality to make friends, but it's like she had no capability to do so until he waltzed in. she is also aggressively un-feminine, which was refreshing and a good subversion of a YA female lead. Shaved head and all, I loved Saba. She was a badass, could fight on her own. She also saves Jack's life as many times as he saves her, it's like a subplot how many times they save each other. They are equals. They shared good hate-then-love chemistry and Jack wasn't this castrated "let's hold hands then fall asleep hugging each other" love interest that dominates YA fiction. Christ, I'm sorry, but I never buy that shit from a teenage male character. Jack was bawdy and flirtatious, enough to be a fault but a damn funny flaw it 'twas. It was pretty predictable they were gonna end up together, Demalo was thrown out there as tantalizingly as a raw steak but you knew, you just knew the minute Jack's introduced they were so gonna do it. Fall in love...I mean. 
 Also- the Free Hawks. The best underutilized idea in YA fiction. They needed to spend a month in that camp. Maev and all the other characters- awesome. It was like the Amazons from Wonder Woman. Yet they don't get enough development, presence, execution, they're just kind of there. Then they get killed. Oh. Okay. Honestly, a bunch of Amazon warrior rebels? Count me in. It even says in the summary "a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks" Excuse me? They need their own book -fuck saving Lugh- I want to read about them! 
 Jack has to be my favorite delightful rapscallion. He made sexual harassment fun. As sickening as it sounds, there were times I knew he was pushing the limit of appropriate, but I loved him anyways. He's just so unapologetically fun, and it's not lost even when he's supposed to be gentle and sweet. It doesn't feel forced or like a terrible multiple personality thing like in the Divergent series with Four/Tobias. Jack is kind of a dick. Jack is also very genuine and caring when he needs to be. But his personality is consistent. He is always wisecracking. He is always demanding and over the top and in your face. Even when he is having a serious moment. He will be yelling right in your face, whether he loves you or hates you. It's refreshing. 
 The plot moves well as an action packed road trip of revenge. Despite my complaining about Emmi, I did like the progression of their bond. I just didn't like how Saba had to change her personality to be closer to her sister. She didn't have to do that, or at least, not the way she did. the bonds between the characters were awesome, as was the romance. Damn. I love me some Jack. 
 If you like gritty, angst-y adventure, the desert, bad grammar, rough and tough heroes and bonds between siblings you will like this book.