Dread
Nation by Justina Ireland
Series: Dread Nation #1
Pages: 464
Genre: Young Adult Alternate
History
Publication Date: April 2018
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 to
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.
Near the end of 2017, I heard
that there was going to be a book about Civil War zombies released in 2018, and
I freaked out a little. I LOVE historical fiction, and history can only get
better with zombies. Is historical horror a genre? If not, it needs to be. If
it is, I need book recommendations.
Anyway, that’s a long-winded
way of saying that Dread Nation
became my most-anticipated release of 2018. As soon as it arrived on my
doorstep, I eagerly devoured it.
