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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
inspiring
tense
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5
Really enjoyed the beginning but felt the ending was kind of rushed.
Really enjoyed the beginning but felt the ending was kind of rushed.
I walked into this one not realizing that it was horror. I got the hang of that. It's fun in a gross way. Interesting racial politics. The audiobook is good. Not high literature by any stretch, but an interesting concept, and some great characters. I'll be reading the second for a future book group meeting, but overall though I'm not a fan of horror, this was a fun change of pace.
3.75 stars
Zombie and American civil war era stories are not usually my top picks but Dread Nation combined the genres in a way that was fresh and engaging! I enjoyed the characters and the often thoughtful social commentary. The audiobook narration with the full Southern drawl made it a real treat as well!
There are two areas where I think the book could have been better. First, the main character was a bit inconsistent in some parts of the story. For example, she would think "I would never wish X on anyone" and then about 20 pages later she would be wishing just that-- and not due to sudden character development!
*Spoilers below*
Second, the movement of the story from Baltimore to a pioneer town was disappointing. Keeping the story in an urban setting would have provided opportunities to explore the social commentary themes in a more layered way. In the pioneer town setting, the issues lost a bit of nuance.
Zombie and American civil war era stories are not usually my top picks but Dread Nation combined the genres in a way that was fresh and engaging! I enjoyed the characters and the often thoughtful social commentary. The audiobook narration with the full Southern drawl made it a real treat as well!
There are two areas where I think the book could have been better. First, the main character was a bit inconsistent in some parts of the story. For example, she would think "I would never wish X on anyone" and then about 20 pages later she would be wishing just that-- and not due to sudden character development!
*Spoilers below*
Second, the movement of the story from Baltimore to a pioneer town was disappointing. Keeping the story in an urban setting would have provided opportunities to explore the social commentary themes in a more layered way. In the pioneer town setting, the issues lost a bit of nuance.
Justina Ireland's writing is so damn cool! I ate this up in about 24 hours and I'm gonna start the sequel right now.
This was a heartbreaking but lovely book that had so many things to say about racism, prejudice, cruelty, but also about resilience, friendship. Like other reviewers noted, it was so nice that the romantic subplots were very subtle and didn't take up too much space, leaving the rivals to friends relationship between Jane and Katherine with a lot of room to breathe. I was really a huge fan of their friendship, their corset running joke, their banter and their coming closer together.
I also really liked how Jane was so turned on by cleverness. That's so relatable. Loved the aro-ace representation in this (without it being called that) and the source of Jane learning how to kiss! And beyond her courage, muttonheadedness, resilience and moral compass, I loved Jane's empathy and understanding. She might feel jealous of other women or she might be snitched on, or bullied, but she has a deep understanding of why people do that. What a great main character.
I loved the bits of kindness from plenty of characters and also the complexity of Jane's situation back home before she was sent to the training school.
And the zombie, ahem, shambler fights were really awesome! They were very easy to follow, cool to read, and alert and had a fresh perspective to them. There's one near the end of the book that happens in the darkness and it felt super innovative to me. I thought I was bored of zombies. Dread Nation proved me wrong.
Fuck the Survivalists!
This was a heartbreaking but lovely book that had so many things to say about racism, prejudice, cruelty, but also about resilience, friendship. Like other reviewers noted, it was so nice that the romantic subplots were very subtle and didn't take up too much space, leaving the rivals to friends relationship between Jane and Katherine with a lot of room to breathe. I was really a huge fan of their friendship, their corset running joke, their banter and their coming closer together.
I also really liked how Jane was so turned on by cleverness. That's so relatable. Loved the aro-ace representation in this (without it being called that) and the source of Jane learning how to kiss! And beyond her courage, muttonheadedness, resilience and moral compass, I loved Jane's empathy and understanding. She might feel jealous of other women or she might be snitched on, or bullied, but she has a deep understanding of why people do that. What a great main character.
I loved the bits of kindness from plenty of characters and also the complexity of Jane's situation back home before she was sent to the training school.
And the zombie, ahem, shambler fights were really awesome! They were very easy to follow, cool to read, and alert and had a fresh perspective to them. There's one near the end of the book that happens in the darkness and it felt super innovative to me. I thought I was bored of zombies. Dread Nation proved me wrong.
Fuck the Survivalists!