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A review by aprildiamond
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
5.0
This Reconstruction-era alternate history horror novel quickly became one of my favorites. The premise of Dread Nation sounded kinda wild and not really my type, with the undead rising in the midst of the Civil War, but it was executed so well that I ended up loving it.
There's a lot of fantastic social commentary about the racial politics of the time period, and I thought it was fascinating how that was integrated with the changed history. For example, how the racist, God-fearing white men have explanations for the rise of the undead that feel very realistic to the type of people they are.
Most of all, it's so easy to root for the main characters. Jane is such a smart and capable protag, with a powerful character arc, and I loved seeing the story through her eyes and her humor. Kate was an instant favorite as well, at first because I thought her rivalry with Jane was entertaining, and later on because everything I learned about her made me love her more. Her being canonically aroace made me Feel Things!!! And every single line of hers in chapter 31 could have been taken straight from my brain!! I did not expect the rep but I'm so happy about it :))
(also Jane being bi!! love to see it)
I need the sequel and Soon
There's a lot of fantastic social commentary about the racial politics of the time period, and I thought it was fascinating how that was integrated with the changed history. For example, how the racist, God-fearing white men have explanations for the rise of the undead that feel very realistic to the type of people they are.
Most of all, it's so easy to root for the main characters. Jane is such a smart and capable protag, with a powerful character arc, and I loved seeing the story through her eyes and her humor. Kate was an instant favorite as well, at first because I thought her rivalry with Jane was entertaining, and later on because everything I learned about her made me love her more. Her being canonically aroace made me Feel Things!!! And every single line of hers in chapter 31 could have been taken straight from my brain!! I did not expect the rep but I'm so happy about it :))
(also Jane being bi!! love to see it)
I need the sequel and Soon