Zombies and Fighting Galore -- "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

     
Jane McKeene was born just days after the dead started walking again and brought an end to the Civil War. Under a law enacted years later, children with colored skin are sent to combat schools where they are taught how to put down the dead (affectionately called shamblers) for good. Girls like Jane can get a job protecting wealthy white women as Attendants, which will hopefully lead to a better life. In Baltimore, where Jane attends Miss Preston’s School of Combat, politicians have started voicing their desire to restore America’s pre-shambler glory but Jane doesn’t want to hear any of it when she’s so close to going back home to Kentucky. Before she can return home, though, Jane finds herself entangled in a conspiracy concerning the disappearance of families in the Baltimore area.

    I found that the elements of this story that were rooted in history were very heartbreaking but also important to tell. I liked the inclusion of a Native American character who attended a combat school and worked for a rich, white politician like Katherine wanted to do after graduating from Miss Preston’s School of Combat. He followed the path that society intended him to, but we don’t know where he ends up. We do know that he identifies with Jane, Katherine, and Jackson (the main characters) through their shared mistreatment.

    The zombies in this book were definitely different and I kind of liked it, even though I haven’t read very many books that involve zombies. No one is looking into the reason why the dead are coming back to life, they are just fighting and trying to come up with a vaccine to seemingly no avail. African and Native Americans are the only ones physically fighting the shamblers.

    I like the letter Ireland wrote for the beginning of the story because I think that it brings a lot of emotional weight/ urgency to the story, specifically how everyone is treated. She also includes an author’s note that reiterated the historical and societal significance of this story even though it’s in the background.

    Overall, this book is amazing and showed how people were affected by America’s past. I can’t wait for you all to experience the heart wrenching story of Dread Nation by Justina Ireland when it comes out in April 2018!

What's Out There in Space?--"Honor Among Thieves" by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

 
   Zara Cole is your average, prodigal criminal teenager living in the Lower Eight district of New Detroit except, she gets recruited for the Honors program where she will explore the universe on the Tour aboard an alien spaceship race called the Leviathan. Zara, her partner Beatriz, and Nadim, the Leviathan they are aboard, soon realize that space is a lot more dangerous than any of them ever thought. Will they be able to survive the Tour?

    It took me awhile to get into this book. I had some expectations as to what kind of story this was going to be because I read that fans of stories such as Illuminae and the 100 would like it. I love Illuminae (and it’s sequel Gemina) so I was really excited to start reading. Now that I think about it, Illuminae and Honor Among Thieves have similar reading paces because it was hard for me to get into Illuminae as well and I could stop reading at any point, so I wasn’t completely sucked into the story. Don’t get me wrong, this book was amazing, it just doesn’t have as much of an urgent pace as books I have read recently, which I would consider a good thing.

The pace is one of the things that made this book enjoyable for me to read. It was pleasant and did keep my interest once I got into the story! I found it interesting that the scenes with Leviathans in them had the most detail, I could see what they look like vividly. This is interesting because it reflects how complicated the Leviathan are, they look like spaceships but they are also living things that think and have feelings. I really enjoy reading all of the little details, especially of the settings so it caught my attention. I could visualize the settings and I could connect with the whole book this way.

Even though the future society that Aguirre and Caine created is unique, I didn’t feel intrigued to read about it. I think that Zara’s narration makes the city bland and turns off my interest. There are aspects that I want to know more about, but because Zara doesn’t care, we won’t get more information. She is closed off to the world and to herself as well, which makes her narration very restricted but I want to know more. I’m sure that we will get more answers as Zara and everyone else does, but as someone who loves getting the itty bitty details I want to know more about this future America.

Despite my hunger for the little things, I really liked this book, especially the imagery. I can’t wait for others to read it when it comes out in February 2018!