Dread Nation
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Dread Nation (Dread Nation, Book 1) by Justina Ireland
Cashing in on social relevance.
A zombie apocalypse set during the Civil War? Sign me up!
Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long to realize that the historical setting exists primarily so the author can focus on racism and a protagonist overcoming discrimination.
Now, that’s not a bad theme at all, stories tackling those issues are important. The problem is how it’s handled here: it feels heavy-handed and forced, which makes it less impactful. If the theme had unfolded more naturally, it could have carried a lot more weight.
Imagine this instead: the protagonist chooses to live outside society, away from the racism and senseless hate, surviving the zombie apocalypse on her own terms. But as the undead threat escalates, she’s forced back into the world she despises to help save what’s left of humanity. People are shocked by her ethnicity, a confrontation she wanted to avoid but was ultimately unavoidable. Suddenly, she faces hatred and prejudice more intensely than ever, despite her heroism. Now she’s torn: should she risk her life to save those who would enslave her, or let them fall and live alone in the zombie apocalypse? That moral dilemma alone would have made for a far more compelling story.
I’m just spitballing ideas here, but my point is that the racial themes in Dread Nation should have been integrated more organically. As it stands, it feels like yet another YA novel trying to cash in on social relevance rather than telling a truly immersive story.
