Rebel Heart (Dustlands) [Paperback]

Rebel Heart was on a totally new level for me, if I came across it myself I would never had picked it up. Having not already read Blood Red Road the first book in the Dust Lands series I didn't know what to expect and it's one of the first books that I've read that I've skipped a book in the series from.

The first thing that came across me when reading the book was the language. Never having read a book similar or with such language it was hard for me to get used to a little at first but at the story went on, I got the hang of it and the language fit well with the characters in the book. The language made them more unique than any other characters from books that I have read so they had their own personal space in my mind so I was able to visualise them more. And the thing with the no speech marks was confusing a little too but after a bit it was easy to follow just took a little while getting used to it.

Saba was just a really strong, admirable and brave girl and was an excellent protagonist for this type of novel. She fit her part well and being so determined to help the ones she loved made me like her instantly. I'd found out that in the last book that she strove so hard to save her brother Lugh and the sister that she had protected was a gateway for me to understand her better as I myself am really close to my brother and sister. With everything put in her way she was very strong and steadfast on her journey to find Jack, the boyfriend from the first book that she's in love with. Despite what others say she always believed in herself and did what she thought was right which was very brave and admirable of her.

Lugh, I could guess had changed a lot from the last book as what had been that brother-sister bond between him and Saba so that drove the story a little and brought some unexpected events/parts in the story. There were many other characters that I loved as well such as Tommy, I always felt so sorry for him, he was just sweet and totally adorable. Slim, the clown in the little group on their journey, made me laugh with everything that came out of his mouth. It was great to have someone like that lighten the mood now and then, even in the most dangerous of situations. Jack, he was I think the ideal man for Saba, they both share strong hearts and were perfect for each other but it was like a roller coaster sometimes he was right at the top, other times you doubted and sometimes even hated him. The same with DeMalo, after having so many unanswered questions I bet from the events of Blood Red Road my opinion of him was very alternating, at times you thought well he's not that bad a person, he was a very difficult and complicated character and well developed in the novel.

The best part for me in Rebel Heart was all the surprises and the unexpected. I always expected the obvious but then all this danger, excitement, betrayal, romance were all thrown at you and you were just left there gob smacked. It was very fast-paced and with the feeling that nowhere was safe, it kept you on edge and made you eager to read on as after a while I had no absolute idea what to expect would happen next. Totally fun and expeditious read with shocking events, complicated romances and most of all a long, dangerous but exhilarating journey.

Warning: This is a sequel review, so there might be a few spoilers if you haven't read the first instalment of the Dustlands series (Blood Red Road) - I can't urge you enough to go read it!

To recap, in Blood Red Road, Saba travelled the Dustlands on a mission to rescue her twin brother Lugh from the clutches of the Tonton, with her little sister Emmi, the Free Hawks and the enigmatic and dangerously attractive Jack helping her along the way. In Rebel Heart, the twins have been reunited and they head off west with Emmi and their deaf friend Tommo to make a new life for themselves in the fertile lands of Big Water. But Saba is troubled by ghosts from her past and a deep yearning for her `heart's desire', Jack, who has left them to deliver some sad news to a friend. Saba thought that when she had Lugh back, things could return to normal - but what they each lived through when they were separated has driven a wedge between them. As they travel they see troubling signs of a new, frighteningly organised Tonton force rising. And when a cryptic message arrives from Jack, headstrong Saba determinedly sets off alone to track him down. As usual, whether she likes it or not, her friends aren't far behind. Much to Lugh's frustration, it seems that fate is set to drag them all into the fray once again.

When I read Blood Red Road, I was gripped by Saba's unique narrative voice, spoken in a catching dialect (you'll end up talkin' like her - you cain't help yerself) and without the usual punctuation conventions of direct speech, which was a little unsettling at first, but totally absorbing once you get used to it. The same immediacy pulled me in to Saba's headspace in the sequel, but whereas before her thoughts were focussed on her quest to rescue Lugh, now she seems at a loose end, almost unhinged, and haunted by the people she has lost and killed. This leads to a more introspective tone to the opening chapters and a deeper exploration of her character and of her relationship with Lugh.

That's not to say there's a lack of action, though - there are ostrich-riding headhunters, a highway hijacking, a camel-drawn cart chase and with the Tonton land-grabbing, enslaving and branding right, left and centre, danger is only ever around the corner. The barren, canyon-ridden desert backdrop gives the feel of a western set in some strange post-apocalyptic land abandoned by `The Wreckers', and there are a few nods to the genre - booze-ups on dodgy hooch in The Lost Cause tavern, bawdy songs and even at one point a character declaring `Stand and deliver!'.

Nine-year-old Emmi was one of my favourite characters from the first book and here she really comes into her own, surprising her older siblings with her wisdom beyond her years and powers of perception. She has an instant affinity with Auriel, the waif-like sixteen-year-old shaman who leads Saba on an internal journey of self-discovery, and through this new character the central themes of fate and destiny are brought into focus. We also meet Slim, a one-eyed travelling physician and surgeon (or quack, as Saba succinctly puts it) in a pink dress - but there's more to this eccentric rogue than his unconventional wardrobe.

Things really heat up on the love front in this book, as Saba finds herself confused and at the centre of a complicated love triangle - well, more of a maze really. But will she `burn bright' with Jack or light the fever in another's blood? And will she ever learn to get the `red hot heat' of her rage under control and think about the consequences first before endangering the people she seeks to protect? This crucial flaw and her self-awareness of it is what, for me, makes her an enduring character whose company I missed when the book ended.

One thing's for sure - nothing is quite as it seems for Saba, and as the story moves on, what appear to be separate threads draw together to place the Angel of Death and her friends at the centre of things, with the sense that they will be pivotal to how the changing social order of the Tonton's Dustlands will play out. There were definitely a few surprises in store in this sizzling sequel, and I can't wait to find out how things will be resolved in the next book.

If you enjoyed `The Hunger Games' and the bow wielding Katniss Everdeen then you will find kinship in Saba; she is just as resilient and real when faced with a dystopian universe. She is brave, bold and will do anything for the ones she loves which makes her such a likeable and relatable character.

Rebel Heart is the second instalment in the `Dustlands' series and the hotly anticipated sequel to the Costa prize winning `Blood Red Road' from Moira Young, which in itself is a great read. This book picks up right where we left Saba and unfolds into just as adrenaline packed an adventure as the first, if not more.

Saba faces dilemmas and tough decisions in her journey of danger, betrayal, destiny and passion through the Dustlands. Will she listen to her heart stone or her head?

Each section leaves to wanting more and yearning for answers or reeling in shock. This book is a compelling page turner with it all; love, action, a good strong heroine and a system to despise.