Wanna listen to our reviews instead of reading, check out our podcast. https://thenoveluniverse.podbean.com2.5The year is 1880 and slavery has kind of ended in the traditional sense but blacks and native Americans are now forced to enter combat schools to learn how to fight zombies.Our main character is Jane who is a sassy bi-racial zombie killing machine that takes no shits from anyone. This book has all the fixin’s, Katherine a snooty student who is passing as white, Jackson a sexy hustler/sex...

3 Stars "It's a cruel, cruel world. And the people are the worst part." I just want to preface this review by saying I think this book is extremely important. It's historical fiction with zombies, sure, but it also centers on a very strong, biracial woman. I can't speak for the representation as a whole, but I will say I loved how unapologetic Jane is.Taking place in an alternate US where zombies rose up during the Civil War, this takes a long hard look at institutionalized racism. Jane is a

I absolutely loved this book. Of course the alt-history post-civil war era setting tells you that the story will be harsh. It's a zombie book, yes, but the walking dead are just part of the larger landscape of horror that non-whites have to live in. The relationship between the two main characters, Jane and Katherine, is incredibly well done. They start out barely tolerating each other, but over time they become friends. How that relationship comes about and grows is integral to the story, and t...

this book inspired me to start going to the gym because I've realized that at this rate if zombies arrived, I would be truly, absolutely, unequivocally FUCKED

I was today years old when I found out that this book exists.

3.75/5 ⭐Full review on my Blog: The Dacian She-Wolf 🐺Because February is always Black History Month (and, mind you, I've read this book in February), this fearless heroine of ours is a fearless girl of colour leaving in the times of the Civil War in the United States. You know the Civil War, right? The North starts battling the South in order to abolish slavery. There is blood, there is gore, there is loss and there are...zombies.Quick thingy here: does anyone actually remember that Scooby-Doo f...

This book is fucking badass. Yes, there are zombies, but there are also young girls trying their damndest to survive in a world that doesn't want them. This book is just as important as The Hate U Give and Dear Martin. We like to romanticize the past and the old west, but need constant reminders about the ways that things haven't changed at all. It's an examination of America, old and new, and the idea that perhaps humanity is worse than a plague of zombies.Jane is someone I want to see slay the...

looking for great books to read during black history month...and the other eleven months? i'm going to float some of my favorites throughout the month, and i hope they will find new readers!fulfilling my 2020 goal to read (at least) one book each month that i bought in hardcover and put off reading long enough that it is now in paperback.why did it take me so long to read this book when i knew the first time i saw that cover that it was coming home with me? \THAT COVERit may have just been zombi...

So.... don't take this personally, Justina, but I may have cut up this novel after reading it and glued it to my wall as wallpaper. If it helps any, the wall looks awesome. I love the fake faded look of the pages.--------ANYWAY! Incredible premise. LGBT black girls fighting zombies during the Civil War era. Hell yes? Dread Nation has great bi representation, great ace representation, great representation in general. It deserves a full five stars in terms of diversity. However, despite how lovely...

This is what i'm envisioning after every zombie slay.

When the dead rise from the battlefield of Gettysburg, the Civil War is called off and to help fight a new war, the Negro and Native Reeducation Act requires qualified children to attend combat schools to slay the shamblers. That's the synopsis for Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, whose narrator is a mixed race teenager named Jane McKeene. Civil War era zombies? Yes! Black heroine? Yes! Silly Young Adult conventions? No! Annoying patois? Hell no! I made it to page 64 before abandoning this novel...

Wow! Wow! Wow! So much fun! 5 very enthusiastic stars for the audiobook as narrated by Bahni Turpin.I'd been putting this book off for quite a while and boy, do I regret that! This is the second book I've read in as many months that follows a tough chick in an alternate timeline where something supernatural has altered American history. I'm not sure what that genre is called, but gimme more -- I love it!In Dread Nation, we're introduced to a world in which the Civil War was interrupted when the

I shrug. “My momma always said the best way to get what you want from people is to give them what they think they want. Sometimes you have to live down to people’s expectations, Kate. If you can do that, you’ll get much further in life.” Honestly, black zombie hunters in the Reconstruction era is definitely the best historical fiction concept of all time. And the fact that this totally, completely lived up to my hopes? Even better. I think this is a book action fans are going to enjoy. Dr

4.5 StarsWhen I first heard about this book last year, I knew I needed to read it. I'm not usually into zombies. I've never watched an episode of The Walking Dead and I usually laugh at zombie movies but this book peaked my interest immediately. I love Historical Fiction, add to that African American Historical Fiction and I'm sold.Justina Ireland took one of the most dark and terrifying times in history Reconstruction and made it even more terrifying by adding zombies. Not only does our heroine...

In Dread Nation, Ireland beautifully blends Historical Fiction and Horror. It's a fast-paced, bloody, action-packed story!Set in a turbulent United States, just after the Civil War, the country is plagued by the walking dead. Jane McKeene, our intrepid protagonist, is attending Miss Preston's School for Girls and struggling to find her place in the world. Life hasn't always been kind to Jane and she has had to develop a thick resolve in order to push through the hardships. Unfortunate as that ma...

This was a pretty darn good world that Justina created. 😱 The short explanation is zombies pop up during the civil war. But it’s definitely got a lot more to it than that. Jane is one bad ass b. ❤️ I loved her character. I also loved the audiobook, choosing Bahni Turpin was a great choice for Jane’s voice. 👍 Given the time setting, the law set in place (“the Native and Negro Re-education Act”), the treatment of people in this book is gut wrenching and will make you steaming mad. I’m excited to r...

Originally started as a buddy read with Lola but she wasn't into it so I went ahead and finished it myself. :pI thought this had a pretty strong start. I was really enjoying it up until around the 40% mark. From then on, my interest sort of waned. I guess its partly due to the whole zombie thing; let's be honest, they're not the most exciting supernatural monsters to read about. Most of the time they're just lumbering, brainless things designed to move the plot forward and provide action scenes....

The worst thing about this book is that I mentally read it with a Southern drawl. It is unbelievably annoying.Most of the time, I go into a book with certain expectations. "I'm going to love this book" "Oh, this sounds just awful" so on and so forth. I have to admit, the premise didn't sound that great to me. Zombies are boring. Civil-war era America (even after a zombie apocalypse) doesn't sound terribly awesome either. So I have to admit I started this book with a whole lot of skepticism, and

A quintessential, suspenseful YA novel with a compelling lead character that is courageous and kind (although Jane may disagree with latter). Ms. Ireland sneaks in some not-so-well-known U.S. history about whites sending Native American children to boarding schools where they could learn to be "civilized", creating truly chilling story.

4 stars! “It’s a cruel, cruel world. And the people are the worst part.” I listened to this audiobook on the recommendation of a friend and I really enjoyed it. Dread Nation is a book that's been in the back of my mind and I am really glad I read it, especially because there's another book coming out.Dread Nation is about a young woman named Jane about 15+ years after the Civil War. The twist is, the Civil War ended in this world because all the dead rose up and became "shamblers" or basical