Scan barcode
greenlivingaudioworm'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
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Racism, Slavery, and Violence
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
mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Child death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Vomit
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
DEATHLESS DIVIDE is a strong sequel, briefly echoing some of the events of DREAD NATION in a new town before things take a grimly foreseen turn, setting the characters on a new, even bloodier path on their way to California.
The emotional core of the story is the friendship between Katherine and Jane, as this tests how far Jane will go for vengeance and how far Katherine is willing and able to follow her. They began the first book as social rivals and ended it scarred by the same waves of zombies and death, as well as a myriad of more individualized heartaches and wounds. DEATHLESS DIVIDE continues their dangerous trek as they try to keep the other members of their traveling party alive.
This wraps up several things left hanging from the previous book. The main storyline starts here and mostly wasn’t present before, with several big things that are both introduced and resolved within DEATHLESS DIVIDE. This appears to be the end of the duology, and while the world of these stories is grand enough to contain more tales it does feel complete for these particular characters. There was a particular goal expressed early in DREAD NATION which ends up resolved, and that in particular helps this to feel like the end of the story. Jane is a returning narrator and her voice is consistent with the first book. Katherine is a welcome addition as narrator, and her view of herself and of Jane is very different from Jane’s perception of them. They're a fine pair of narrators, seeing each of them through the other one’s eyes is a great way to explore their personalities.
I like a lot of the secondary characters, both the new ones and the returning minor characters who get more of a role this time around. There was a tendency for the book to feel like it picked them up and then just shoved them to the background as they stopped being relevant to some emotional beat in Jane and Katherine's journey. Sue is consistently present, which was nice, and the very dangerous journey meant that the very large cast was necessary as people kept dying and getting replaced by new people to keep safe. Part of that is because the plot isn't about them and it isn't trying to be, but it did make for a strange feeling every time a new person was introduced as I waited to find out whether they were going to get killed or just fade into the background. Lily in particular faded, she was so important as a person to find and keep safe in DREAD NATION and then she just is around but mostly stops being relevant less than halfway through DEATHLESS DIVIDE. I know how she ends up, the story doesn't lose track of her so this isn't a plot hole or something, but it felt odd, and she wasn't the only one this happened to. It might be a reflection of how much Jane and Katherine are surrounded by death and it makes Jane in particular pretty numb to other people's feelings, so anyone that only Jane was keeping track of is prone to fade from the story.
This is a great finish to a solid duology with vibrant main characters and a very memorable setting. I had a great time reading it and I like how it ended, it was open enough to imply possibilities while also addressing the whole reason for their quest for California in the first place.
The emotional core of the story is the friendship between Katherine and Jane, as this tests how far Jane will go for vengeance and how far Katherine is willing and able to follow her. They began the first book as social rivals and ended it scarred by the same waves of zombies and death, as well as a myriad of more individualized heartaches and wounds. DEATHLESS DIVIDE continues their dangerous trek as they try to keep the other members of their traveling party alive.
This wraps up several things left hanging from the previous book. The main storyline starts here and mostly wasn’t present before, with several big things that are both introduced and resolved within DEATHLESS DIVIDE. This appears to be the end of the duology, and while the world of these stories is grand enough to contain more tales it does feel complete for these particular characters. There was a particular goal expressed early in DREAD NATION which ends up resolved, and that in particular helps this to feel like the end of the story. Jane is a returning narrator and her voice is consistent with the first book. Katherine is a welcome addition as narrator, and her view of herself and of Jane is very different from Jane’s perception of them. They're a fine pair of narrators, seeing each of them through the other one’s eyes is a great way to explore their personalities.
I like a lot of the secondary characters, both the new ones and the returning minor characters who get more of a role this time around. There was a tendency for the book to feel like it picked them up and then just shoved them to the background as they stopped being relevant to some emotional beat in Jane and Katherine's journey. Sue is consistently present, which was nice, and the very dangerous journey meant that the very large cast was necessary as people kept dying and getting replaced by new people to keep safe. Part of that is because the plot isn't about them and it isn't trying to be, but it did make for a strange feeling every time a new person was introduced as I waited to find out whether they were going to get killed or just fade into the background. Lily in particular faded, she was so important as a person to find and keep safe in DREAD NATION and then she just is around but mostly stops being relevant less than halfway through DEATHLESS DIVIDE. I know how she ends up, the story doesn't lose track of her so this isn't a plot hole or something, but it felt odd, and she wasn't the only one this happened to. It might be a reflection of how much Jane and Katherine are surrounded by death and it makes Jane in particular pretty numb to other people's feelings, so anyone that only Jane was keeping track of is prone to fade from the story.
This is a great finish to a solid duology with vibrant main characters and a very memorable setting. I had a great time reading it and I like how it ended, it was open enough to imply possibilities while also addressing the whole reason for their quest for California in the first place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Slavery, and Torture
Minor: Ableism and Child abuse
angelbabe_cj's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think this might have been even better than the first book in the duology. I really enjoyed it. And the ending was very satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Trafficking
The majority of these warnings are covered by the fact the book deals with zombies and primarily black people in the 19th Century. For the most part current racial slurs are used in an historical context, although there are also a fair number of specifically racist uses of these words.ehmannky's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A fantastic sequel full of all of the witty and endearing characters, zombie horror, and fast-paced action that Dread Nation held, with a lot more western tropes and vengeance sprinkled in. I was impressed that Ireland was so ready to pull the rug out from under the reader with who dies in the story (some of whom I was truly surprised over) and with the double-crosses and betrayals. And yet, despite these twists, I think that nothing felt forced or put in just for the shock value. Every tragedy that befalls our heroes felt like a natural outgrowth of the terrible situations and people that Jane and Katherine find themselves up against. Speaking of Katherine, I loved that we got her perspective, because she's such a rare kind of character and I love her.
I thought that the whole book is an interesting look at the ways that grief can consume us when we're not looked out for and cared for by a community. About the ways in which grief is compounded for those at the bottom of a social hierarchy, while those at the top often get off completely free. I also thought that Ireland made a really great point of highlighting how racial hierarchies are not only upheld by a handful of white people at the top of the social standing, but by people of many races buying into the idea of white supremacy. This comes through in both the theoretically "good" town of Nicodemus and in the "promised land" of California.
Just a wonderfully complex, zombie-filled good time.
I thought that the whole book is an interesting look at the ways that grief can consume us when we're not looked out for and cared for by a community. About the ways in which grief is compounded for those at the bottom of a social hierarchy, while those at the top often get off completely free. I also thought that Ireland made a really great point of highlighting how racial hierarchies are not only upheld by a handful of white people at the top of the social standing, but by people of many races buying into the idea of white supremacy. This comes through in both the theoretically "good" town of Nicodemus and in the "promised land" of California.
Just a wonderfully complex, zombie-filled good time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Animal death and Xenophobia
More...