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sparklefarm's review against another edition
- 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
- 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 😂
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
beccaand's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Slavery and Torture
bookhookedheather's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Blood, Gore, Death, Racism, Gun violence, and Child death
wardenred's review against another edition
- 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!
Graphic: Racism, Death, Violence, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Slavery and Torture
lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
- 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
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gore
Moderate: Death
lovetlr's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism, Death, and Slavery
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, and Murder
saemiligr's review against another edition
- 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
<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>
Graphic: Death and Child death