[Review] Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Series: Dread Nation #1

Rating: 4 stars

Format: ARC 

Release Date: April 3rd 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

Alternate history post-Civil War with zombies! Reading this definitely gave me Django Unchained vibes.

We start of with Jane McKeene, who attends Miss Preston's School of Combat, a school for African American girls that not only teaches manners, but how to fight the shamblers, who have risen from the dead and are threatening the very fragile America. Jane and her rival (and eventual friend) Katherine, hope to rise through the ranks of Miss Preston's to become Attendants, who protect the rich white societal ladies of the late 18th century.


Dread Nation handles a very unique alternate history concept (zombies!) and the pressing issues of race and society with a mostly flawless ease. Because only Native American and African American people are forced to fight the shamblers, even with the Civil War being over. Jane, our perpetually smart and sharp-tongued heroine, was ever-so observant that becoming an Attendant would not mean she was free.

She also deals the best lines.

"See, the problem in this world ain't sinners, or even the dead. It is men who will step on anyone who stands in the way of their pursuit of power. Luckily there will always be people like me to stop them."
I stand and resettle the sheriff's hate, now my hat. "That horde will be coming through the town soon enough, and if you ain't already dead by then, the shamblers will surely oblige. As for me, I've got quite enough stains on my soul, so I hope you meet your end quickly."

Jane, Katherine, and Jane's ex, Jackson, are forcefully taken to Summerland, a town at the edge of the country, where shamblers roam free. There, they must deal with the discrimination and racism wrought upon them by the sheriff, the priest, and the drovers.

My favorite part of the story had to be Jane and Katherine's dynamic. Initially, Katherine and Jane are enemies, but are forced to work together through circumstance. Seeing their relationship grow into mutual respect to friends is something I LIVE FOR in YA. Katherine herself had to be my favorite character. She's not your typical mean girl, and Ireland develops her into a very complex character, because she passes as white and does not know where she fits in. She's clever and strong in her own right.

"I don't want to live the rest of my life as a liar. To turn my back on my own people. And I definitely don't want to be someone's wife. I don't want a man."

"I don't want to get married. I don't want to chase after some man or set up housekeeping with another woman. I'm just not interested. I want to see the world! I want to write my own future, like Hattie McCrea."

I'm glad the romance (the very little that there was) did take a backseat to the action and story. I wished Jackson played a more prominent role (maybe he'll show up in a sequel), because I ended up shipping Gideon with Jane. However, Jackson's relationship with Jane was sweet. You don't normally have exes in fiction working together side by side (without anything really happening, too!).

Now at times Dread Nation was a little bit too info-dumpy and veered more on the side of exposition instead of action. Plus, there are some of the same tropes you see scattered in other YAs.

But, it was still one heck of action-packed ride. Guns, sickles, and zombies galore! I would love to read the sequel, to see where Jane and Katherine end up next.