A review by dragoninwinterfell
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

It has been years since I was so fully captured by a book that I couldn't stop reading/listening to it until I reached the end. Straight from the first couple of lines, I was drawn in by Jane McKeene and her story. Justina Ireland has created a gritty alternate history where the Civil War ended when soldiers began turning into zombies, forcing both sides to come to terms to deal with the greater threat. Slavery has technically ended, yet Black Americans are still being exploited and racism is still normalized. Black and Native American teens are forced to attend schools where they are taught to fight zombies in preparation for jobs where they will protect people of European descent. 

Jane attends one of these schools where she has to learn etiquette (so as to be tolerable company for the people she will serve) alongside combat training with other teenage girls. As the story is told through her first-person POV, her dry wit, well-earned pessimism, practicality, and care for others are at the forefront. Jane is such a fascinating character full of acknowledged flaws alongside rarely acknowledged virtues. Had this been a book where she was just narrating her boring day at home in a world with no zombies, I still would have been attached enough to her to be enthralled. But this is a world with zombies as well as common human atrocities. So it was fascinating following along as she navigated the horrors of both zombies and racism, which equally threatened her life and the lives of those she loves.

I'm awed by Ireland's skill in creating a character and a world that felt so real and immersive. 
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