First Impression Friday | Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Welcome to another First Impression Friday. In case this is your first time, here’s the rundown:

• Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions
and predict what you’ll think by the end.
• Did you think you’d love and ended up hating it? Or did you think
you’d hate it and wound up loving it? Or were you exactly right?
• Link back to Storeys of Stories so I can enjoy reading all the
First Impression Fridays out there!

Let’s talk about Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.

“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.

I was very excited to start this one. It’s the audiobook version, and as I start, I instantly recognize Bahni Turpin’s voice, who gave an amazing performance with The Hate U Give audiobook.

Then I’m into the first chapter and everyone’s training in the best way to kill zombies, and I’m still excited, and then I keep going and my excitement begins to die. Very little happens. To be fair, I just finished Feed, which sets a very quick pace. However, the pace of Dread Nation thus far is like those moving sidewalks you see in some airports. Sure it’s easy, but a medium walk is still faster.

I’m holding out hope that the action will pick up. Everyone has weapons and training, so stuff will go flying sooner or later.

My Prediction: 3 stars.

Fun fact about this post: I can’t believe it, but this is my first FIF post of 2019. #slacker