Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

25 reviews

musen_henning's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

Moderate: Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, Torture, Physical abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Child death, Cannibalism, and Cursing

leafhead's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Classism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Gore, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Police brutality, Trafficking, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content, Blood, and Slavery

littlepepperguy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-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? N/A

4.75

Riveting from start to finish. The main character is complex, interesting and wildly wildly intelligent. Def the best portrayal of a smart character I've seen in books. I find that a lot of times authors just want to tell you the character is smart and not show bc a character can only be as smart as an author but Jane was def a shining example of what to do. A couple of characters are casually queer. And you can see in real time affection between characters blossom. Loved this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery and Xenophobia

ms_sarah621's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a fast-paced, fun read. Jane is a strong-willed and independent character. Most of the women are, but Jane really displays these qualities. Jane faces so much throughout this story. There is action (fighting zombies), enemies to friends, sexism, racism, abuse of power, and overcoming the impossible. There is rarely a dull moment in the story. There is fighting, plotting, or finding out new information. This is a young adult book, and that is my main reason for 4 stars. I am out growing the genre. It comes off as childish and repetitive in the language at times. However, it’s still a fun read, and I would recommend it to most people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

lisashelves's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, War, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Slavery and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Murder

chronicacademia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Body horror, Hate crime, Medical content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Torture

Minor: Animal cruelty and Death of parent

breesbookmark's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Gore, Colonisation, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, War, Torture, Police brutality, Misogyny, and Grief

The book delves into very important issues, both from a modern and a historical perspective. The author handles them with respect, but does not sugarcoat them.

mickij's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Murder

mermaidreef's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was a slay. I think this protagonist was one of my faves of all time?? Like a lot of times in YA fiction/fantasy that are in first person, the main character is mega boring and doesn't really even seem like a person at all. That was soooooo not the case here. Jane is such a wonderful and well-developed character. She doesn't always tell us everything and there are times when she holds the reader at arms' length. She isn't modest, and shows us she has good reason not to be. 

To me, however, the real power of this book lies in the fact that it is a direct and searing deconstruction of the appeal of Donald Trump to the racism inherent in American white people. In the wake of the zombie apocalypse, a political party operating on a platform of Black people's racial inferiority and "God-ordained subservience" to white people attempts to set up settlements honoring the "old ways" (aka pre-Civil War slavery). Their slogan is "make America safe again" and they believe the way to do so is to force Black and Native American people to fight off zombies. They hold that the "zombie plague" is a punishment from God for "white infighting" (aka the Civil War) and they take it as a sign that God himself believes that Black people need to be enslaved. 

What I got out of this mostly is that in the face of a global crisis, white people turn to the structure of the racial caste system in blind faith as a way to weather the storm. In this book, white people literally choose death in order to reinforce this racial caste system which places them at the top. 

Very good very slay

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Racism

barefootbetsy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This was excellent! I’m so glad I bought the sequel before I finished this book. Looking forward to starting it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Violence, Child death, Grief, Slavery, Torture, Colonisation, Murder, Trafficking, and War