Rebel Heart

Dust Lands, Book 2

By: Moira Young

Narrated by: Heather Lind

Nothing is certain and no one is safe in the second book in the highly praised Dust Lands trilogy, which MTV’s Hollywood Crush blog called “better than The Hunger Games.”

It seemed so simple: Defeat the Tonton, rescue her kidnapped brother, Lugh, and then order would be restored to Saba’s world. Simplicity, however, has proved to be elusive. Now, Saba and her family travel west, headed for a better life and a longed-for reunion with Jack. But the fight for Lugh’s freedom has unleashed a new power in the dust lands, and a formidable new enemy is on the rise.

What is the truth about Jack? And how far will Saba go to get what she wants? In this much-anticipated follow-up to the riveting Blood Red Road, a fierce heroine finds herself at the crossroads of danger and destiny, betrayal and passion.

©2012 Moira Young (P)2012 Simon & Schuster, Inc

Loved it!

This is such a good series.
Both the story and teller are great. Can't wait to listen to the next

Feels short and empty compared to the first.

This installment to the trilogy feels short and empty compared to the first. The characters don't seem to move very far or do much of anything in this book, even though they travel quite far and accomplish a lot. The writing sort of fails to illustrate the scale of everything. The story is alright, but a little slow and bland.

The narrator's performance saves this book. She carries on the same great performance from the first book.

It is worth the listen if you plan on finishing the trilogy. I hear the final book is much better.

Wow - Talk about a sequel!

Rebel Heart is just as good as Blood Red Road, albeit in a completely different way. Our focus has shifted from this tunnel-vision mission of saving Lugh. It’s like – what happens after we’ve “saved the world”? Where do we go? What do we do? And where the hell is Jack?

Instead of the well-known “middle book lull”, this book brought the “action” in an almost subtle way. There was so much mystery that it didn’t feel like much action was occurring, when it all actuality..ka-boom.

Some readers may not like some things that happened but oh how I LOVED it. Characters are annoying, yes. They do annoying, STUPID, things. I feel almost masochistic – I loved being hurt like this. I loved the characters making the worst kinds of mistakes. Moira Young, bring on the pain. I’m ready for the final installment, Raging Star, which is set to be released on May 13th, 2014.

Not as good as the first book....

This is the second book in the Dust Lands series by Young. I absolutely adored Blood Red Road and was so excited to read this book. To be honest this book was a bit of a disappointment. Gone is the fierce Saba from Blood Red Road, she’s been replaced by a whiny emotional wreck of a young woman.

I listened to this on an audiobook. The audiobook was very well done. The narrator does an excellent job of capturing the stark language and slang used throughout the novel.

We hear briefly from Jack a bit in the beginning. The rest of the story is with Saba and her siblings as they journey across the Waste to the west. Saba is seeing shadows that are slowly driving her insane; she seeks help from a spiritual healer in a nearby town. This part of the story was a bit odd and I don’t understand why it was included here...but whatever.

Then when Maeve stumbles into town she brings word from Jack. Saba and crew abandon their quest to go West and turn back to travel to the Storm Belt to meet up with Jack.

Gone are the awesome action scenes and kick-butt Saba from the first book. In her place we have a selfish, wreck of a girl that's a shadow of herself. Saba doesn’t come off as tough but more of an emotional wreck whose world is slowly falling to pieces. Seriously Saba is so overly emotional about everything, sometimes following her mercurial changes in temperament just plain wore me out.

Saba continually makes rash emotional decisions that end up hurting the group. She never seems to learn from her mistakes. I understand that Saba's ability to feel emotions so keenly is special in this stark wasteland; but by the end of the book I wanted to smack her.

For some reason it seems like Saba is defining her whole existence by the men in her life. Her actions are driven by her brother, Jack, and even her enemy the Pathfinder and her emotions about them. It’s so different from the tough and pragmatic Saba in Blood Red Road.

Saba’s brother Lugh is just plain creepy throughout the book; he is controlling and a bit evil. His manipulation of Saba and his possessiveness gave me the creeps.

The best characters in this book are Em, Saba’s younger sister, whose incredible wisdom and cheerfulness add a lot to the bleak story. Also Saba and crew steal a cart from a medicine man named Slim; Slim ends up accompanying them on their journey to the Storm Belt. Slim is an awesome character; he adds some humor and seems to genuinely care about this group of wandering kids.

I still enjoyed the stark language and dusty, dank post-apocalyptic setting. I also enjoyed the glimpses back into the old Wrecker culture that made this horrible bleak world what it was.

Overall didn't like this book as much as the first one. I continue to enjoy the dank dusty world and stark language used to tell this story. I did not enjoy the emotional wrecked and selfish Saba that we deal with in this book. I didn’t understand the why behind the whole first half of the this book and hope that somehow it ties in with the third book and makes sense. Hopefully the final book in the series will be better and make some of the things that happened in the second book more meaningful. I will definitely read the final book in this series just because I did love Blood Red Road so much and I do love this world. Still, this definitely wasn’t a strong continuation of the series.

amazing!

This one is better than the first! I can't wait to read the 3rd book. I don't want to leave this universe! The story was great, lots of twists and turns. I definitely recommend it! Make sure you read the first book before you read this one.

I really really wish Saba had been more likable.

Where does Rebel Heart rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

low

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I was okay with the ending. It was rather a typical middle book.

Which scene was your favorite?

The fact that things didn't turn out how you'd expect. I can't really say more than that without ruining something.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

What bothered me the most is how Saba started using people. It does make sense to me though, that she is confused and has some depression issues after the events of the previous book.

Good story

Would you listen to Rebel Heart again? Why?

Yes, its was a very good story. Easy to listen to at work and on the train. Makes my work day fly by.

What did you like best about this story?

Saba reuniting with Jack and Tommo watching them, wondering what will happen next.

Which character – as performed by Heather Lind – was your favorite?

Saba, Jack, and Molly

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

oh yeah.

Up & Down Trilogy

Where does Rebel Heart rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Good, not great

Would you recommend Rebel Heart to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend the Dust Lands Trilogy, though this is the weakest of the three books

Any additional comments?

The first book in the Dust Lands trilogy, Blood Red Road, is fierce & tremendous.This second book, Rebel Heart, meanders and often bogs down.The third book, Raging Star, redeems the Trilogy (though Blood Red Road is still the best).

Rebel heart

This book had an annoyingly slow start and predictable ending. It picked up a little past the midpoint.

good

s z s a a s a s A s s s s s stop at now