Moira Young - Rebel Heart

Here's another dystopia book from a series I've already started reading. This book has a different writing style to the other books that fall in this genre with the words being written down phonetically depending on who is speaking.

Rebel Heart by Moira Young is the second book in her Dust Lands series which is told mainly from the point of view of Saba, an eighteen year old girl. Saba is the twin sister of Lugh and they are complete opposites; he is bright and strong while she is dark and scrawny. They have grown up and lived together with their father and sister until Lugh is kidnapped by the Tonton, a group of dark robed men who work for the deranged ruler of their land. Rebel Heart follows Blood Red Road where Saba has chased after the Tonton to find her brother, meeting Jack, a mysterious young man who Saba saves, and becomes a symbol when she overthrows the tyrant ruler and his family.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Those who like dystopia fiction, though you need to read the first one so this one makes sense

Favourite Characters: Jack - he's always thinking about Saba and fights for her; Saba - she thinks of everyone else before herself

Favourite Part: The heartstone burns, fierce an true. I bin missin him so deep. It hurts my heart to see him agin. I open my mouth to call his name. I stop myself. His head snaps in my direction. Like he knows I'm here. - Page 282

Good Points: The writing style; the constant separation of Jack and Saba as it's different; the development of Jack and Saba individually as well as together

Bad Points: The way Lugh is with everyone; love fricking square

I love dystopia fiction as it's different from reality and these books allow me to leave my world and enter a new one that allows me to escape for a while so this might be why I've read a lot of different ones and why I've reviewed a number of them in such a short space of time.

The writing style of this book is interesting as it makes this series stand out against the other with the words being phonetically spelt depending on who is talking which I find really appealing; I'm glad this style has been continued into the second book as I was concerned Young might stop this as Lauren Oliver changed her style slightly between the first and second book of her Delirium series.

While many people who have reviewed this book have complained about how slow this book was in comparison to Blood Red Road which was jam packed with action and was extremely fast paced including the meeting of Jack as well as Saba's quest to find her brother but in my opinion, this book shows more emotional growth for the characters. Though there is action within this book, it's mostly concentrated around the end when Jack reappears in Saba's life, making it slightly overwhelming right at the end of the book. However, this may be reading too much into it but I think the way the books flow reflect how Saba state of mind is. For example, in Blood Red Road, Saba is frantic to find Lugh and will do anything to get to him, while in Rebel Heart, her mind has calmed because she has found Lugh but has lost Jack because he's gone to talk to an old friend. Because her mind is reeling over the loss of Jack, she is emotionally unstable so there is a lack of action but a lot more contemplative as she tries to sort her mind out and waits for Jack to come back. I love the calmness as it allowed me to connect with Saba again as I began to understand her way of thinking.

Though Jack is not featured in Rebel Heart as much because he is away from Saba and the book is told from her point of view apart from the very first section. In this section, Jack has gone to see Molly, an old friend and the lover of his deceased friend Ike; the way he acts is heartbreaking as he doesn't know how to tell Molly about Ike's death as he cares for her and clearly has done for years. When Molly manages to get him to talk about Saba, I found this endearing because he was quite shy about it all. The way they discuss the heartstone that Saba gave to Jack suggests that he is deeply in love with Saba which implies that he truly cares for her and will protect her no matter what which is what happens further into the book.

Saba has always been a self-sacrificing character which is what makes her appealing; her manner is reflected in Jack as he places himself in danger for not just Saba but for Maev as well. From Blood Red Road to Rebel Heart, Saba has fought to save her brother in the first book and later in the second book, she fights to save her sister. However there is a flaw in her character which I find annoying which is her inability to hold off the advances of DeMalo, the leader of the Tonton, and in my opinion, makes her a flighty character and she goes down in my estimations.

One aspect I love about this book is that Jack and Saba are separated throughout it because it brings this sense of longing between the two and for the reader for them to be back together; the use of the heartstone telling Saba when Jack is close is effective and brings this sense of anticipation for them to be together again.

One character I really didn't like in this book was Lugh; Jack and Saba saved him and he appears to be completely ungrateful and is just so overbearing when it comes to his sisters. Unfortunately for Lugh, his sisters have grown while he was away and became more independent from him and though they don't want to lose him so let him control them. In the next book, I feel Lugh is going to become a problem and an even more irritating character.

I'm not going to complain about this aspect again but I still find the love triangle (random shape) part of the story frustrating: PICK ONE BLOKE!!!

The heartstone burns, fierce an true. I bin missin him so deep. It hurts my heart to see him agin. I open my mouth to call his name. I stop myself. His head snaps in my direction. Like he knows I'm here. - Page 282

The heartstone is an aspect of the book that I find really appealing as it sedates the sense of longing for Jack and Saba to be together again and the anticipation of them being together again increases as the reader knows they are going to be together again.

Overall, I loved this book as the emotional aspects because I was able to connect easily with Saba and how she feels about Jack. Now I really want to the next book to come out so I can find out what is going to happen to these characters. Man, I have a problem.

Predictions
1. Consequences occur following the relations between Saba and DeMalo

2. Lugh turns on Saba and Jack

3. DeMalo kidnaps Saba or something to that effect