Can’t Wait Wednesday #27: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Posted August 30, 2017 by Lisa Mandina in / 20 Comments

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight
and talk about the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read.
Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on
Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.  My pick this week is one I found on the Edelweiss website as an egalley.  The cover and synopsis both grabbed my attention, and now I am very eager to get my hands on it.  Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:  


A story of the undead like you’ve never read before, Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation is a fresh, stunning, and powerful meditation on race in America wrapped in an alternate-history adventure where Confederate and Union soldiers rise from the dead at the end of the Civil War.

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.

At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland’s stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar—a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet.

What do you think?  Does it sound good to you?  I haven’t read a lot of alternate history stories, but the ones I have read have been good!

If you’re looking for a great challenge for September, click on the button above to join my September Sequel Challenge and maybe win a book of your choice! 

And only a few more days to help me celebrate my 8th blogoversary with a giveaway HERE

Please follow and like us:
0
fb-share-icon0
Tweet 0
Pin Share20

Tags: , , , , , , , ,


20 responses to “Can’t Wait Wednesday #27: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

  1. AWESOME PICK!!! I can't wait for this one, either!! I don't usually read the horror genre, but I LOVE the elements in this one, so I'm making an exception! It's not every day that we have an African-American female hero in a book, and fighting off the undead? GREAT combo!! 🙂 🙂

    Thanks for featuring this one!! Hope we both enjoy it when it releases!! <3 <3 <3 🙂 🙂 🙂

  2. This sounds really unique. IL definitely intrigued. I hope you are approved doe this one and enjoy it! Thanks for sharing. I'll have to look for this one too. Have a great day!

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.