In short: Blood Red Road by Moira Young was an entirely engrossing and exciting read with emotionally gorgeous writing and a fiercely strong heroine. 
 I was completely and utterly ENRAPTURED while reading Blood Red Road, more than any other book I've read this year. The unique writing style, the memorable and charming characters, the intriguing and enigmatic world - every aspect of Blood Red Road grabbed me instantly and did not let go until the very end. I loved loved LOVED Blood Red Road and would have no trouble including it among my favourite all-time reads. Within this gritty and barren post-apocalyptic desert wasteland of a world, with its frequent sandstorms and violent cage fights, emerges a FIERCE heroine on an epic journey to save her brother. 
 Blood Red Road is written in an uneducated dialect with no quotation marks. Some people might be turned off by the style of writing, at least in the beginning. But I thought it had personality. I felt the sparse prose really contributed to Saba's voice and the novel's atmosphere - it really brought the book to life! This flow of consciousness type of writing seems to have the effect of making the writing flow quickly as well as enabling the reader to truly FEEL what Saba goes through, making for a very fast-paced and emotional read. Moira Young may be a debut author, but girl can WRITE! 
 Saba has a laundry list of flaws as a character: she's bull-headed, selfish, and harsh. Not particularly likeable, at least at first. But over the course of Blood Red Road we get to see another side of her: fiercely loyal and determined and somehow also sensitive and vulnerable. And FEISTY! Her desperate plight to save her beloved brother, her fortitude in the cage fighting arena, her strongly protective nature towards those that she loves, and her faithfulness to her friends and family all endeared her to me immediately. 
 In fact, all the characters, both primary and secondary, are pretty amazing and I loved seeing Saba interact with them. The romance between Saba and Jack is just - OH SWOON! The romantic tension and banter was just perfect. They worked as a great counterbalance to one another and were never afraid to stand up to each other. But I think I may have enjoyed the growth in the relationship between Saba and her younger sister, Emmi, even more, as their relationship grows from a place of disdain to one of respect. 
 It really is no surprise Blood Red Road resonated with me so strongly considering it has a lot of elements in common with my favourite non-Harry Potter series, the Chaos Walking trilogy: stream of consciousness style of writing, a loveable animal pal, and an uneducated and ill-tempered protagonist who is hard to like initially, but grows into a strong-willed and persevering character that you can't help but root for. I HIGHLY recommend Blood Red Road to anyone looking for a unique and surprising story with strong characters and exquisite writing. The sequel, Rebel Heart, will be released October 30, 2012.