Alex Cabe reviewed Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Skillfully Written with a Well-Chosen Premise, but Doesn't Elevate Much Beyond It
3 stars
The central premise here was great, but the plot meandered at times and it felt like the author had come up with a great concept, then had trouble with what to do with it.
Skillfully written and likeable characters, although I feel like I'd be more of a Katherine than a Jane. I enjoyed that the author trusted the reader enough to reveal the backstory of Jane and the world generally slowly, rather than infodumping it all at once.
The plot twists and secrets weren't very surprising and didn't all make sense.
The letter excerpts at the end of each chapter were clever and moved the plot.
I have a long reading list at the moment, but will probably read the sequel. This was clearly written with a sequel in mind, so I'd like to see how things conclude. Would be interesting if parts of the sequel are told from …
The central premise here was great, but the plot meandered at times and it felt like the author had come up with a great concept, then had trouble with what to do with it.
Skillfully written and likeable characters, although I feel like I'd be more of a Katherine than a Jane. I enjoyed that the author trusted the reader enough to reveal the backstory of Jane and the world generally slowly, rather than infodumping it all at once.
The plot twists and secrets weren't very surprising and didn't all make sense.
The letter excerpts at the end of each chapter were clever and moved the plot.
I have a long reading list at the moment, but will probably read the sequel. This was clearly written with a sequel in mind, so I'd like to see how things conclude. Would be interesting if parts of the sequel are told from other perspectives.
