The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
telliot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Confinement, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
wogslandwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
An absolutely stellar sequel. I am a sucker for duologies and I think this one wrapped up Jane and Katherine's story well. I am a fan of 19th century history, usually pre-Civil War, but this series was exactly my kind of thing. The book is written for a younger audience, but it doesn't feel out of place to read it as an adult. As a white person, I learned a lot about the inner feelings and experiences of black women and I hope that this book will help me have continued empathy and grace for people who do not look like me and have been harmed for generations by my ancestors and currently by other white folks. It is amazing to see Justina Ireland wrap up such complicated feelings and experiences into a zombie novel and communicate them so clearly. I am very excited for her future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Colonisation, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Slavery, Racism, Sexism, Misogyny, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
It's a zombie book set in the 19th century and centered around an old west caravan trip. There is violence and killing. The gore is particularly explicit, but it's definitely there.greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Racism, Slavery, and Violence
emmehooks's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
3.0
The first half of this book was not it for me but I read the second half in one sitting. I would read a 3rd in the series. I disliked that Jane and Katherine’s perspectives switched between every chapter and would’ve preferred longer chunks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Colonisation, Torture, and Slavery
Minor: Cursing
beccaand's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Blood, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Slavery and Torture
bookhookedheather's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Blood, Gore, Death, Racism, Gun violence, and Child death
lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really enjoyed the first book. Jane had such an engaging, funny voice, and she was really a character to root for. It is an intriguing alternate history, where zombies (called shamblers) rise from the dead on the battlefields of Gettysburg, and kill and bite/turn people. Black people are used as cannon fodder in the war against the dead, and young Black women can be trained to fight the dead and protect white women. In the sequel, after the town of Summerland falls to shamblers, Jane and her friends escape, but there is an immediate death that sends Jane into depression and on a quest for revenge (over a character that I did not think was remotely worth it, but love is weird). While the change in her character makes sense due to the plot, I really missed the old Jane's voice, and consequently didn't enjoy this book nearly as much. It didn't feel like there was a lot to this book, if that makes sense. On the plus side, we now have Katherine as a narrator, in addition to Jane, and I liked seeing her POV (and her ace rep). Katherine, and her loyalty to her best friend Jane, is the saving grace of this story. Ireland shows multiple races in the 1800s Western US and handles well the explanations of racism against Black people, and the stress that puts on them, just to survive. On the negative side, story lines feel half-fleshed out, characters that should interact don't, the pacing was uneven, and I'm not entirely comfortable with the way Ireland handled the discussion of the Chinese immigrants or the Native Americans. The book felt way too long for the amount of plot that actually happens. I was looking forward to this one, and unfortunately, I was disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Blood, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, and Abandonment
blkunicorn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Gun violence
ericadawson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
I ended up enjoying Deathless Divide more than I expected, especially considering my steadily decreasing hopes for the book during the first part.
Jane's constant romantic troubles bogged down the beginning of the book, to the point where even after the Big Reveal for one of her (several) romantic infatuations, I stopped feeling bad for her because like, girl, he cheated. Twice. This man was the definition of a lightskin loser and I could not understand the level of devastation Jane was feeling. Even the reveal of this man's secret seemed out of left field. Not only that, but Jane had a tendency to start making eyes at nearly every man she came across, up to and including a definitely racist insane white man. Please.
(I noticed an annoying pattern of Jane's crushes tending toward being mixed or non-Black people exclusively. I think we have one non-mixed Black woman who's a prominent character. Otherwise, your chances of finding someone who's fully Black and fully significant are slim.)
I will say, though, that this was really my only issue with this book. I loved Katherine's character, the way she developed into a very sure-footed person and insightful person. Her introspections contrasted nicely with Jane's. I liked Jane's corruption arc, and I loved their friendship and Katherine's unwavering loyalty to Jane.
I enjoyed the voice and the prose, as well as the distinction between Katherine and Jane's POVs. Tension was well maintained, although I began to much prefer the post-time skip portion of the book over what was going on beforehand. Again, the romance(s), often times seemingly nonsensical, got on my nerves enough to knock down the star rating for this book.
It's rare that I enjoy sequels as much as I did this one--but if there happens to be a third installment, I'll be tuning in.
Jane's constant romantic troubles bogged down the beginning of the book, to the point where even after the Big Reveal for one of her (several) romantic infatuations, I stopped feeling bad for her because like, girl, he cheated. Twice. This man was the definition of a lightskin loser and I could not understand the level of devastation Jane was feeling. Even the reveal of this man's secret seemed out of left field. Not only that, but Jane had a tendency to start making eyes at nearly every man she came across, up to and including a definitely racist insane white man. Please.
(I noticed an annoying pattern of Jane's crushes tending toward being mixed or non-Black people exclusively. I think we have one non-mixed Black woman who's a prominent character. Otherwise, your chances of finding someone who's fully Black and fully significant are slim.)
I will say, though, that this was really my only issue with this book. I loved Katherine's character, the way she developed into a very sure-footed person and insightful person. Her introspections contrasted nicely with Jane's. I liked Jane's corruption arc, and I loved their friendship and Katherine's unwavering loyalty to Jane.
I enjoyed the voice and the prose, as well as the distinction between Katherine and Jane's POVs. Tension was well maintained, although I began to much prefer the post-time skip portion of the book over what was going on beforehand. Again, the romance(s), often times seemingly nonsensical, got on my nerves enough to knock down the star rating for this book.
It's rare that I enjoy sequels as much as I did this one--but if there happens to be a third installment, I'll be tuning in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
mydearwatsonbooks's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Child death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Vomit