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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve been seeing recommendations for this book since it came out, and finally had a chance to pick it up this week. To be honest, if I’d known it was about the undead I probably would have skipped it, so I’m glad I didn’t know. The writing is so compelling, the story gripping, the characters complex and multi-dimensional. So much to say about this book but I’ll leave it at—don’t miss it. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You might expect the dead are rising from the battlefields of the American Civil War to change everything, but Justina Ireland uses Dread Nation to explore how minorities continue to be exploited. Jane is a pupil at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, receiving tuition in both scrambler killing and etiquette. If she graduates with flying colours, she will be able to take employment as an Attendant, protecting rich white women from unwanted attention, both from the undead and suitors.
Yes, despite the war between the living ending, black people are still don't have their freedom. The Native and Negro Reeducation Act is based on a very real programme where America forcibly sent Native American children to special schools in order to be "civilised".
I loved Dread Nation, so much. I have no idea why a UK publisher hasn't picked it up. It transplants the horrors of the slave trade into a post-apocalyptic scenario. Jane may seem to have it good but her position is precarious, she must rely on the whims of the white people in power. The action goes from Baltimore to the frontier out west, where there is no place for the pleasantries of polite society and the rules are quite different.
Jane is the illegitimate daughter of a plantation owner's wife and was lucky to survive. Each chapter starts with correspondence between Jane and her mother, along with flashbacks as Jane remembers her past, painting a picture of who her mother was. I liked their complicated relationship and there is a revelation that puts it all into context.
I'd shy away from calling them friends, but her schoolmate Katherine is her rival for the top positions. She is paled skinned and could easily pass as white. Later on, her ability to pass helps to highlight the discrimination based on nothing more but skin colour.
The Survivalists take the place of Confederates, the very definition of white supremecists, they believe they survived because they are white and the black population's purpose is to serve them. They want to rebuild America in their own image, using people of colour to get there. Jane and Katherine are expected to politely listen to so-called scientific lectures on how they are less than human. You will fume right by their side.
I want to avoid going into too much detail on the plot because I was not expecting it to go where it does, but I loved every page. It is gripping, entertaining, thought-provoking and heart-breaking.
Yes, despite the war between the living ending, black people are still don't have their freedom. The Native and Negro Reeducation Act is based on a very real programme where America forcibly sent Native American children to special schools in order to be "civilised".
I loved Dread Nation, so much. I have no idea why a UK publisher hasn't picked it up. It transplants the horrors of the slave trade into a post-apocalyptic scenario. Jane may seem to have it good but her position is precarious, she must rely on the whims of the white people in power. The action goes from Baltimore to the frontier out west, where there is no place for the pleasantries of polite society and the rules are quite different.
Jane is the illegitimate daughter of a plantation owner's wife and was lucky to survive. Each chapter starts with correspondence between Jane and her mother, along with flashbacks as Jane remembers her past, painting a picture of who her mother was. I liked their complicated relationship and there is a revelation that puts it all into context.
I'd shy away from calling them friends, but her schoolmate Katherine is her rival for the top positions. She is paled skinned and could easily pass as white. Later on, her ability to pass helps to highlight the discrimination based on nothing more but skin colour.
The Survivalists take the place of Confederates, the very definition of white supremecists, they believe they survived because they are white and the black population's purpose is to serve them. They want to rebuild America in their own image, using people of colour to get there. Jane and Katherine are expected to politely listen to so-called scientific lectures on how they are less than human. You will fume right by their side.
I want to avoid going into too much detail on the plot because I was not expecting it to go where it does, but I loved every page. It is gripping, entertaining, thought-provoking and heart-breaking.
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
In Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation the Battle of Gettysburg was still one of the turning points of the Civil War, just not entirely for the same reasons that you or I might remember from history class. Instead, it was the day the dead began to walk the battlefield effectively changing the tide of the war and the world forever.
Specifically it was two days after our narrator Jane McKeene was born that Shamblers started to roam the countryside.
Now, about seventeen years later with the Native and Negro Reeducation Act making combat training a requirement for certain children, Jane is enrolled at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore where she is training as an Attendant—a position of protection, typically for the wealthy, with the Attendant having not only trained in weapons and fighting but etiquette.
However, Jane has no true interest in becoming an Attendant. Her goal is to make it back home to Rose Hall to her momma and aunties. First, Jane will have to contend with the power players in Baltimore who want America to return to the “good old days.” When Jane gets embroiled in a conspiracy involving Baltimore families going missing, she’ll have to put her training to use as Jane fights for her life in a country still surrounded by the dead.
First off, this is a review of the audiobook and I always feel like finding a good narrator is like finding a good author. Well, Bahni Turpin is absolutely wonderful. She really makes Jane, and other characters, come vividly to life. I’m very interested in checking out her other work.
I really loved the incorporation of the Shamblers (aka zombies). Just when you think the zombie trope has been overdone, Justina Ireland comes along and breathes new life (no pun intended) into the genre. So far, Dread Nation only gives readers a rudimentary knowledge of the Shambler, but that goes along with the knowledge of the rest of the country as well. There are a few little pieces of information we gather by the end, and I hope Justina Ireland continues to delve into what caused the epidemic because it’s clearly far from over.
However, like any good zombie movie (*ahem* or TV show), you find that the true conflict is always humanity with itself. Dread Nation takes place in a not often talked about time in history. That is, we discuss the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, and Reconstruction, but I think it’s sometimes easy to forget that change takes time. Just because slaves were declared free doesn’t mean everyone was 100 percent on board with that idea and we see Jane and her companions run up against people who are, as one character puts it, “trying to live in the past” in order to move forward from the zombie plague instead of working together to survive.
Dread Nation IS Jane’s story. She is the one leading readers through the changed world and standing up for what is right. She has her eyes wide open to what’s going on around her, and even when all the pieces aren’t adding up just yet, she’s very aware. Yet she’s not without her own vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to the welfare of her family—who she hasn’t heard from in over a year.
I’ve honestly only scratched the surface of everything that Dread Nation brings to the table. I was pulled in by the promise of zombies, but I stayed for the strength of the characters. I’ll be along for the journey, wherever that may lead, hopefully to a brighter future for all.
In Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation the Battle of Gettysburg was still one of the turning points of the Civil War, just not entirely for the same reasons that you or I might remember from history class. Instead, it was the day the dead began to walk the battlefield effectively changing the tide of the war and the world forever.
Specifically it was two days after our narrator Jane McKeene was born that Shamblers started to roam the countryside.
Now, about seventeen years later with the Native and Negro Reeducation Act making combat training a requirement for certain children, Jane is enrolled at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore where she is training as an Attendant—a position of protection, typically for the wealthy, with the Attendant having not only trained in weapons and fighting but etiquette.
However, Jane has no true interest in becoming an Attendant. Her goal is to make it back home to Rose Hall to her momma and aunties. First, Jane will have to contend with the power players in Baltimore who want America to return to the “good old days.” When Jane gets embroiled in a conspiracy involving Baltimore families going missing, she’ll have to put her training to use as Jane fights for her life in a country still surrounded by the dead.
First off, this is a review of the audiobook and I always feel like finding a good narrator is like finding a good author. Well, Bahni Turpin is absolutely wonderful. She really makes Jane, and other characters, come vividly to life. I’m very interested in checking out her other work.
I really loved the incorporation of the Shamblers (aka zombies). Just when you think the zombie trope has been overdone, Justina Ireland comes along and breathes new life (no pun intended) into the genre. So far, Dread Nation only gives readers a rudimentary knowledge of the Shambler, but that goes along with the knowledge of the rest of the country as well. There are a few little pieces of information we gather by the end, and I hope Justina Ireland continues to delve into what caused the epidemic because it’s clearly far from over.
However, like any good zombie movie (*ahem* or TV show), you find that the true conflict is always humanity with itself. Dread Nation takes place in a not often talked about time in history. That is, we discuss the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation, and Reconstruction, but I think it’s sometimes easy to forget that change takes time. Just because slaves were declared free doesn’t mean everyone was 100 percent on board with that idea and we see Jane and her companions run up against people who are, as one character puts it, “trying to live in the past” in order to move forward from the zombie plague instead of working together to survive.
Dread Nation IS Jane’s story. She is the one leading readers through the changed world and standing up for what is right. She has her eyes wide open to what’s going on around her, and even when all the pieces aren’t adding up just yet, she’s very aware. Yet she’s not without her own vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to the welfare of her family—who she hasn’t heard from in over a year.
I’ve honestly only scratched the surface of everything that Dread Nation brings to the table. I was pulled in by the promise of zombies, but I stayed for the strength of the characters. I’ll be along for the journey, wherever that may lead, hopefully to a brighter future for all.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No