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notesbynnenna 's review for:
Dread Nation
by Justina Ireland
4.5 stars
A Black girl kicking ass and taking names while she battles the undead? Yes, please!
I’ve been so curious about this book since I first heard about it. Now that I’ve finally read it, I thought it was so much fun! I loved June as a character- she was such a badass and I loved how she was both brave and reckless. I also really enjoyed seeing how the relationship between June and Kate evolved.
There really is something special about having a Black girl as the heroine of a fantasy novel that I can’t get over. And we quickly see that June has two enemies to deal with: the hordes of undead people and racists who want to keep Black people “in their place” and return to the good old days before slavery was made illegal.
The author makes it clear that after slavery was legally abolished, it continued in reality, just with a different name and dressed up in different clothing. At one point, one of the characters is describing the supposed “inferiority” of Black people, and it reminded me of reading Stamped from the Beginning when it discussed how scientists of the time claimed that Black people were less developed and used that idea to create a racial hierarchy. There was/is a lot of ugly, racist thinking and those beliefs that didn’t just go away once slavery was made illegal.
This is a longer read, but I flew through the pages because I found the story so engaging. I enjoyed the writing and loved reading this story from June’s perspective with her irreverent tone. In terms of premise and plot, this was such a fun read that gave me lots of adventure while also exploring the violent and racist history of America. And I will definitely be reading the sequel!
A Black girl kicking ass and taking names while she battles the undead? Yes, please!
I’ve been so curious about this book since I first heard about it. Now that I’ve finally read it, I thought it was so much fun! I loved June as a character- she was such a badass and I loved how she was both brave and reckless. I also really enjoyed seeing how the relationship between June and Kate evolved.
There really is something special about having a Black girl as the heroine of a fantasy novel that I can’t get over. And we quickly see that June has two enemies to deal with: the hordes of undead people and racists who want to keep Black people “in their place” and return to the good old days before slavery was made illegal.
The author makes it clear that after slavery was legally abolished, it continued in reality, just with a different name and dressed up in different clothing. At one point, one of the characters is describing the supposed “inferiority” of Black people, and it reminded me of reading Stamped from the Beginning when it discussed how scientists of the time claimed that Black people were less developed and used that idea to create a racial hierarchy. There was/is a lot of ugly, racist thinking and those beliefs that didn’t just go away once slavery was made illegal.
This is a longer read, but I flew through the pages because I found the story so engaging. I enjoyed the writing and loved reading this story from June’s perspective with her irreverent tone. In terms of premise and plot, this was such a fun read that gave me lots of adventure while also exploring the violent and racist history of America. And I will definitely be reading the sequel!