Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland is the sequel to her zombie fantasy, Dread Nation. The book continues the story of Jane McKeene and Katherine Devereaux as they embark on a journey of revenge and salvation across the remnants of America in the late 1800s. This is an alternative history where during the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg the dead started to rise up and by this time most of America is in ruins as the dead travel in hordes and consume the living.

The story is told by both Jane and Katherine in alternate chapters as they each have very separate views and morals. While they are together at the beginning of this book, they are soon separated and while Katherine gets herself and some of their friends to California to embark on a new life, Jane becomes a bounty hunter and moves steadily west following the path of Gideon Carr who she has vowed to kill. It has become clear that Gideon is responsible for many of the zombie outbreaks that have destroyed so many towns and people.

While this sequel has the witty social commentary and the strong black heroines who fearlessly kill the dead as they build upon their friendships, it was a little slower paced than the first book. We still get the moral examinations of human behavior, and the social, economic and political divisions between white and black characters. This author is on a mission to present black people as a strong historical element to the building of America and in this she totally succeeds. ( )

Two young black women kick zombie ass from the post–Civil War East to the late-1800s American West.

This sequel to Dread Nation (2018) is told from the perspectives of the irascible Jane McKeene and her unlikely best friend, Katherine Deveraux, after they escape the unholy hell of Summerland, a social science experiment run by a maniacal minister through which black people were forced to protect whites from attacks by throat-chomping, undead shamblers. Alternating between Jane’s haunted life with its Shakespearean overtones and Katherine’s more devout but no less deadly existence, each chapter takes readers farther west, with hopes resting on happy endings for the duo in California. The pacing is steady throughout the first part of the story, building and exploding into a gut-wrenching plot twist halfway through. Then it’s a glorious race to the finish, with compelling moral examinations of human experimentation and killing for hire to fuel reader interest. At its core the book delves into a spectrum of black girls’ and women’s experiences, kinship, and necessary resilience. That focus never strays even as Ireland touches briefly on social tensions between Native and black characters along with passing commentary on immigration and relations between Chinese families and other communities. The imaginative integration of real-world historical players into an equally messy, gruesome chronology artfully developed by the author makes this stand out.

A seriously satisfying, worthy, and well-crafted sequel. (author’s note) (Historical fiction/horror. 14-adult)

-Kirkus Review

This book was exactly what I needed. While living in a pandemic myself, it was amazing to read a “historical fiction” that tackles some of the hardest aspects of living with the impossible. Granted, the impossible in this case were zombies, but it still resonates. Ireland’s way of also tackling racial disparities is also a fresh take that isn’t seen often in YA dystopian fiction (at least done well) and I loved the tongue in cheek way the narrators express it.

I definitely want to re-read this series in the future. ( )

A perfect sequel to Dread Nation! I loved the alternating view points of the narrators. It works so well to see what each girl is thinking. Ireland does an amazing job writing in the voice of both girls, so I rarely found myself confused as to who was the point of view.

I find this to be a fitting end to the series, but I wouldn't say no to another Jane and Kate Adventure! ( )

Very different from the first book and not what I was expecting but an enjoyable adventure nevertheless. ( )