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sparklefarm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Hm. Here's an example of why I don't usually read YA - these characters were so dramatic. SO DRAMATIC. I would say they were "acting like it was life or death" but it actually was life or death ...... but depicted in such a black-and-white way. Other things that irked me:
- Parts 1 and 2 feel like separate books. I think they should have been.
- The audiobook narrator for Katherine's POV (I'm sorry!!)
- Lots of repetitive language/phrases.
- Twists were not as twisty - a bit more predictable than the first book.
Things I liked:
- Having a Katherine POV - it made me understand and like the character more.
- Various LGBT reps!
- The ending! I thought things were wrapped up nicely, but not too neatly, which was right on point.
I don't think YA Hannah would have had qualms at all about this book. 5 stars from her 😂
- Parts 1 and 2 feel like separate books. I think they should have been.
- The audiobook narrator for Katherine's POV (I'm sorry!!)
- Lots of repetitive language/phrases.
- Twists were not as twisty - a bit more predictable than the first book.
Things I liked:
- Having a Katherine POV - it made me understand and like the character more.
- Various LGBT reps!
- The ending! I thought things were wrapped up nicely, but not too neatly, which was right on point.
I don't think YA Hannah would have had qualms at all about this book. 5 stars from her 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Slavery and Torture
bookhookedheather's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Gore, Death, Racism, Gun violence, and Child death
wardenred's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
3.0
Welcome to being friends with Jane McKeene, the hardest job in the world.
I really wish I liked this book more than I actually did. Because there was so much cool stuff here! The setting itself is beatuifully executed: all the historical details merged seamlessly with the added element of zombies, and all that light shed on the kind of people history loves to forget. The cast of characters is wonderfully diverse and pretty much everyone gets a moment to shine. There are plenty of little scenes that absolutely beg to play out on a tv screen. I loved the inclusion of Katherine as a narrator in her own right; I feel her chapters added a lot to the story, especially in the first part when Jane is largely out of action and mostly gets to be heartbroken over at least two different people. I liked every single action sequence.
But at the same time, all this awesomeness just never clicked into a solid story for me. The pacing is super rocky. There's that entire first half where nothing much happens until the plot twist in the middle. There are two absolutely beautiful chapters at the beginning of the first half (seriously, my favorite in the whole book and possibly the whole series) that carry such promise about all the change that happened to the characters, and then the story starts to meander again. A lot of the really important events happen either entirely off-screen or are jumbled into something very short; meanwhile, what feels like merely connective tissue drags on for pages and pages. There are numerous plot threads, including some coming all the way from the first book, that are underdeveloped or left hanging.
I frequently react to novellas with, "I wish this was a full-scale novel." With this book, my reaction is the opposite: I wish this was a novella. Or a string of short stories. Maybe all those meaningful parts would shine brighter if they weren't bogged down in all the rockiness!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Slavery and Torture
lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really enjoyed the first book. Jane had such an engaging, funny voice, and she was really a character to root for. It is an intriguing alternate history, where zombies (called shamblers) rise from the dead on the battlefields of Gettysburg, and kill and bite/turn people. Black people are used as cannon fodder in the war against the dead, and young Black women can be trained to fight the dead and protect white women. In the sequel, after the town of Summerland falls to shamblers, Jane and her friends escape, but there is an immediate death that sends Jane into depression and on a quest for revenge (over a character that I did not think was remotely worth it, but love is weird). While the change in her character makes sense due to the plot, I really missed the old Jane's voice, and consequently didn't enjoy this book nearly as much. It didn't feel like there was a lot to this book, if that makes sense. On the plus side, we now have Katherine as a narrator, in addition to Jane, and I liked seeing her POV (and her ace rep). Katherine, and her loyalty to her best friend Jane, is the saving grace of this story. Ireland shows multiple races in the 1800s Western US and handles well the explanations of racism against Black people, and the stress that puts on them, just to survive. On the negative side, story lines feel half-fleshed out, characters that should interact don't, the pacing was uneven, and I'm not entirely comfortable with the way Ireland handled the discussion of the Chinese immigrants or the Native Americans. The book felt way too long for the amount of plot that actually happens. I was looking forward to this one, and unfortunately, I was disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Blood, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, and Abandonment
breesbookmark's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Sexism, Gun violence, Violence, Misogyny, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Murder, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Child death and Abandonment
fyarae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Really fantastic characters and a rich world that makes you really question the prejudices in today's society. Fantastic world building, a wonderful read. I just wish there was a coupling up at the end with two characters but I will survive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gore
Moderate: Death
lovetlr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Excellent addition to the series. I want more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Death, and Slavery
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
4.5
This had me hooked from start to finish. The plot and character development was something that I thought was done very well, and without spoiling everything I appreciate it felt realistic for the development to backtrack and then go forward again with the events of the book.
This is the second and final book in the Dread Nation duology, which picks up right where the last book left off. This book hits the ground running and doesn't hold back on moments that will shock or hurt at all. It is a ride that I loved it. The characters all feel real when reading too. They have their wants and needs and they are all the same, but it doesn't mean they are against one another.
This time the book had dual prospectives of Jane and Katherine which is changed up from the first book. I really liked this change up at it felt like it gave the whole story better and also really lets us see the world that the girls are living in.
This was perfect to read during spooky season.
This is the second and final book in the Dread Nation duology, which picks up right where the last book left off. This book hits the ground running and doesn't hold back on moments that will shock or hurt at all. It is a ride that I loved it. The characters all feel real when reading too. They have their wants and needs and they are all the same, but it doesn't mean they are against one another.
This time the book had dual prospectives of Jane and Katherine which is changed up from the first book. I really liked this change up at it felt like it gave the whole story better and also really lets us see the world that the girls are living in.
This was perfect to read during spooky season.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Murder
saemiligr's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
This one was really really good. I related to the depiction of grief and anger. The recovery back from that was an amazing journey, all the while the threat of zombies felt real and realistic. I really felt like it was supposed to be two different books for sure, wish it had been.
<spoilers> It was such a bitter sweet ending of her finding her mother and it not being what she expected. That part hit me surprisingly hard. Really hopeful there is another in this series. </spoilers>
<spoilers> It was such a bitter sweet ending of her finding her mother and it not being what she expected. That part hit me surprisingly hard. Really hopeful there is another in this series. </spoilers>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death