Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Dread Nation

A nail-biting historical zombie-plague novel featuring a badass Black heroine!

Me, filing a zombie book under 'favorites'? Never would have expected it! But seriously, Dread Nation is award-winning for a reason—or maybe I should say reasons. It's historical speculative fiction set after what we know as the American Civil War, only the war got interrupted when dead soldiers started walking around and eating people at Gettysburg. With that premise plus a trio of badass heroes fighting shamblers and institutional racism at the same time, this book was sure to be a hit with fans of the zombie subgenre. However, I'm not usually a fan of zombies, so what pulled me in was the characters and the dry humor; my eventual enjoyment of the zombie-based aspects was a pleasant surprise.

One aspect of the way the narrative was set up that I especially enjoyed was how human evils (racism and intentional misuse of religion, particularly) ended up being scarier than the literal devouring dead. Marginalized people in the story are also put in positions where they're more likely to run afoul of shamblers, which was a nice bit of worldbuilding that parallels how a lot of real-world dangers (disease and injury, for instance) disproportionately affect marginalized people and are much harder to manage for marginalized folks than those with privilege.

Spoiler

The scariest part of the book has nothing at all to do with shamblers: it's when one character's attempt to pass as white is found out by the violently racist pastor and sheriff.

Relationships between characters were another highlight. Main character Jane has a complex family background

Spoiler

because of her white-passing mother

and is more invested in putting down shamblers and protecting those she cares about than in fitting into a white-dominated society that treats Black and Indigenous people as disposable tools despite the fact that slavery is now illegal. Jane has a lovers-to-friends dynamic with Jackson, who is a vaguely Robin-Hood-esque figure in their community. (Jane met Jackson when she saved him from shamblers, which is a nice inversion of the common 'male hero rescues female love interest' dynamic.) She also starts out as enemies with Katherine, a fellow student from her combat school—side note: there's definitely a degree of sexual tension between Jane and Katherine, at least on Jane's side, which is semi-confirmed when it turns out Jane is either bi or pan. (Katherine is asexual and aromantic.) I loved how Jane and Katherine became allies and eventually almost friends.

The MC's voice and the book's tone lend themselves to a surprising amount of humor given the genre and subject matter. This ranges from incisively wry observations ("There's nothing white folks hate more than realizing they accidentally treated a Negro like a person") to endearing snark ("I was already on academic probation on account of not caring enough about the importance of gravy boats"). The chapter titles further contribute to the humor, including gems like "In which all hell breaks loose," and "In which I embrace my recklessness." Those touches provide a welcome respite from all the people getting gnawed on by shamblers.

This book will appeal to fans of zombie horror, but also to horror babies like me—there's some gore and a few zombie-based scares, but those were fairly mild as the genre goes, in my opinion. I'd encourage even readers who are wary of zombies to give this a shot if the other aspects sound appealing. I don't think I've ever been in such a hurry to see if a sequel was available at my library after finishing a book, so hopefully that tells you how highly I recommend this!

Content notes: anti-Black racism; anti-Indigenous racism; many references to slavery; anti-Black slurs (historical); anti-Indigenous slurs (historical); mild to medium blood and gore; medical experimentation on Black people; phrenology; internalized colorism; societal colorism; mention of anti-Asian racism

Content Warnings

barefootbetsy's review

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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!

Content Warnings

breadwitchery's review

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

As someone who does not often read horror, actually I try to actively avoid it at times, this book came as a surprise love. I could hardly put it down after I started. It also helped me get out of my beginnings of a reading slump with how quick paced and and action grabbing it is.

I love love love the main character Jane with all of her attitude. It is not often that I read a book with a character that makes decisions or acts in a way that has me going "Yeeeeeeeah I would have done that too.". She is someone that I liked reading as she plans and strategies her way through the story. It's always great to read these sorts of characters but with Jane's passion and gentle side to those people who deserve it, made her a really compelling character.
I especially liked her relationship with Katherine. I loved seeing it slowly grow and the two slowly trusting one another and getting to know each other. Katherine is also a nice balance to Jane when reading. She is the well behaved and level headed of the two, and normally the rule follower.

As for the storyline itself, I didn't find it overly scary for a horror book. It has the undead and they do pop up through out the story, but it is not at the forefront of the plot. Instead the story is focused on the racism and the society of the late 1800's. The undead are used as a tool to further highlights these main focuses.
I cannot wait for to read the second book. I have lingering questions about characters and what will happen to them in the next book.

Spoiler
Did MR Gideon get out? Will the Duchess and her girls, Red Jack, and Lily follow Jane and Katherine to California or are they going their own way?

I recommend giving this book a read. If you are not a huge horror fan and/or a scaredy cat like me, I think this is a good read to dip your toe into the genre and see if it is for you or not.

Content Warnings

c_dmckinney's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Jane is apparently bi or pansexual and it looks like Katherine is asexual. That was a delightful surprise even though I'd love to see it explored more. Hopefully in the sequels it will be.

Content Warnings

5nazzyf0x's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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