Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Set in a historical United States, where the country is plagued by the walking dead, Jane McKeene is just trying to get by at Miss Preston’s School for Girls. Life hasn’t always been kind to Jane and she has developed a thick resolve to help push through hardships.
Being trained as an attendant means not just etiquette and other basic schooling, it means weapons training as well. A lot of it. You see, Jane’s job will someday be to protect some rich family she’s not a part of.
But before she knows it, things go a little…astray. She gets caught in the midst of some snooping on some powerful people and is punished by being sent away from Baltimore Country entirely. A prisoner aboard a train with her picture-perfect frenemy, Kate, and her ex-beau, Red Jack, Jane finds her situation pretty helpless.
Their destination, Summerland. A sort of Western outcrop community reminiscent of Deadwood. Once there a whole host of drama ensues, including standoffs with the undead, known throughout the novel as ‘shamblers’.
There were so many compelling things about this story. The historical landscape was wonderfully done, I thought, as well as the frank representation of race relations in this time period and place. In fact, I feel that the level of historical elements woven throughout the story was perfect.
I also really enjoyed the relationship between Jane and Katherine, who Jane always calls Kate, even though she is asked not to do so. They start out not caring for one another but their relationship evolves so much over the course of the story. It was truly moving. I always enjoy that kind of friendship in a story, particularly female/female.
I also thought the zombie element was really tastefully done. It is descriptive enough, and concept-driven enough, to make this a full-fledge tale of a world fighting zombies, without overwhelming and negating some of the other important plot points.
It’s like zombie-light and I do mean that in a good way.
My only, very slight critique, is that it seemed a little long to me. I would have been just as happy with this story if 30 or 40-pages, or so, had been edited out. As I always say, however, that is 100% personal preference and opinion.
I do think this left off at an incredible spot for a continuation. California here we come! I will definitely be continuing on with this series and look forward to watching Jane be her brutal, badass self.
If you are looking for a fun, zombie-inspired tale to pick up this Spooktober, I would definitely recommend this!