Rebel heart

So Dust Lands #2. What a mess. I'm not one to do reviews, but when/if a book I read flops hard...I make an exception.

Let me start off by saying the first book was great. It wasn't a total Hunger Games cash grab...as it had some different things in it. Not much but it was there. Enough to make me ignore how much it was copying from Hunger Games (main character is female, who has a sister, MC has to fight for her life and over throw a powerful person to be free.) If she hadn't been shaved she'd have the long hair as well. But I digress. So the first book was good. Second book started off strong and then lost me near the end when she meets up with DeMalo. Really? TWO love interests?! Three if you count Tommo. Just...no. I can't keep saying that the series isn't trying to be a HG cash grab anymore. It's copying it way too much. Maybe all post apocalyptic young adult books start to sound the same? I just wish there were some where the MC DOESN'T have a love interest. That's the weakness in Hunger Games as well. Why does such a strong female lead need a love interest? She doesn't. Same here with Saba. She didn't need a love interest.

But I could look past her and Jack...fine. But her and DeMalo? Seriously that came out of left field. There's no reason for her to love him. NONE. The author just wanted a cheap way to make drama and a love triangle is the easiest way. That's poor writing in my opinion. I'm looking forward to the end of the series...I totally lost hope in the series after this book. I'll read till the end because I like finishing thing.

My advice to people who are new to the series? Stop after the first book.

Re-listen to gear up for the next book but MAN am I still in love.

I have read enough YA trilogies at this point to know that the second in the series is what I call a “waiting room book”. The first book sets the story, the second one sees the characters bumble around for a bit and the action just stalls, and the final really finishes the story.
True to form, Rebel Heart's characters are bumbling, but unlike most of the others I have read, this bumbling serves several purposes: first, the characters continue to grow in surprising ways, the action does not stall and ramps up instead, and the storytelling is even BETTER.
This is quite a ride, and that is saying a lot as I LOVED Blood Red Road. The pages could not turn fast enough. Emmie is less annoying, and we have a couple of new players that are original and hold their own.
I loved this book.
I have been pushing Blood Red Road into the hands of as many people as I can, and now I will have Rebel Heart to hand out too.
My only gripe has nothing to do with the story.
I am super pissed about the cover change. SUPER pissed. The original cover of Blood Red Road was perfect, and I would like to have seen what the artist would have come up with for Rebel Heart. Do publishers not understand that something as simple as changing a cover changes the entire feel of a series before a reader even picks it up?
The new covers look like rip offs of Cassandra Clare covers, feature what are clearly models, and feature futuristic looking fonts. None of this makes any sense given the setting and characters of this series.
Why was this done????? Terrible, terrible. It's cheesy and demeaning, and if I were Moira Young, I would be worried that my work would not appeal to a more mature/adult audience. And it is a shame, because this book rocks and deserves a wide readership.
Imagine if Mad Max would have had movie posters like this. Would anyone but tween girls gone to have seen it? Grr. Such a shame.

This book started off a solid 3 star, not a lot of action, not terribly interesting or uninteresting, but by the end I could not stop turning the pages. I need the next one. Like, now.