Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

33 reviews

barefootbetsy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was excellent! I’m so glad I bought the sequel before I finished this book. Looking forward to starting it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Violence, Child death, Grief, Slavery, Torture, Colonisation, Murder, Trafficking, and War

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Body horror, Blood, and Racism

zoepagereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

I’m not going to lie, this is not what I was expecting from this book. I thought it would just be like classic zombie apocalypse style with the MC and crew going around and killing with style. I was NOT expecting the false utopia that was actually presented in this. But hey, unexpected stuff can be fun, and this was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Religious bigotry, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement and Child abuse

Minor: Cursing and Child death

wogslandwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

This book is an amazing alternative history story about the racial and class divides of America, the complicated nature of being a mixed black person, and who counts as Black. It's an important perspective beautifully wrapped in zombie fights and pretty 19th century dresses. The characters are lovable but complicated, making them all the better. Jane is a fantastically unreliable narrator, which I love. Piecing together the pieces of her relationships of those around her just from the heavily biased perspective she gives us, is a treat.

I also love the surprise of Summerland and the extreme setting shift that comes with it. Summerland allows Dread Nation to be both a western and a Victorian drama, which are two of my favorite things.

All told the book is an exciting and enjoyable read with phenomenal characters and an interesting plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Trafficking, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Child abuse, and Slavery

The details of zombie deaths and how the zombies look are not skimped on. They are described in sometimes gruesome detail.

For child death, there is graphic description of the death and consumption by zombies of one of Jane's childhood friends. Jane and her friend are also kidnapped and shipped on a train to the west where they are put to work in slave-like conditions.

There is also violence and racist rhetoric against our main cast of black characters. There is discussion of the conditions of the enslaved prior to the zombie uprising and a large portion of the anti-black rhetoric from characters is based in Christian religion.

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Jane is apparently bi or pansexual and it looks like Katherine is asexual. That was a delightful surprise even though I'd love to see it explored more. Hopefully in the sequels it will be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Gun violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry

mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

Minor: Abortion and Child death

Slut-shaming, attempted murder of a child

5nazzyf0x's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, War, Violence, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Colonisation, and Blood

laurenleigh's review

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Dread Nation was a last minute pick to fulfill some lingering 2021 reading challenge prompts, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it! This is why I do these challenges. In this YA historical fiction, the Civil War ended because zombies rose up on the battle of Gettysburg. I found this sci-fi alternate history take fascinating. It makes me think about how slavery “came back from the dead” in the forms of Jim Crow laws, segregation, and forced labor as criminal punishment. Black Americans still had to fight to survive, with or without a zombie apocalypse. The novel clearly has some deeper meanings to explore, but even on just the surface level, this was an enjoyable, action-packed read. I love when an author can keep up the quick pace of a fight scene while also taking the time to fully explain all the details of what’s going on. The characters were all very well-formed and distinct, especially our heroine Jane. I absolutely adore her! Bahni Turpin’s narration did a fantastic job of capturing all the accents of course. I am interested to read the sequel, mainly just to spend more time with these characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Gun violence, Torture, and Slavery

Moderate: Violence, War, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Child death

helia_'s review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Torture

jed_undead's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Gore, and Blood