I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
Series: Dread Nation #2
Published by Balzer + Bray on 2/4/20
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Horror & Ghost Stories, Young Adult
Pages: 560
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880s America.

What’s more, this safe haven is not what it appears—as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.

But she won’t be in it alone.

Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by—and that Jane needs her too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.

Watching Jane’s back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it’s up to Katherine to keep hope alive—even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

Short and Sweet

After the fall of Summerland all Jane wants to do is survive and make it to California to find her mother. But when Jane and company end up to a survivalist village called Nicodermus, she learns that things aren’t what they appear to be. Katherine never thought that she would become allied with Jane but she knows that she needs Jane, and even though Jane won’t admit it she needs Katherine too.

Characters

Jane: Jane is still amazing and great at killing shamblers. I feel like Jane had a lot more on her plate this go around. She had to protect a group of people from Summerland and get them safely to Nicodermus. She also dealt with a lot of loss on the way and Jane doesn’t deal with her emotions properly she rather keep them all bottled up which at some points did take a toll on her. At some point in the book Jane loses who she is and she just became cold and I’m glad that she had Katherine around to bring some of her humanity back.

Katherine: Katherine is back and I just loved her presence and being able to read from her POV. Katherine is more levelheaded than Jane and is like the voice of reason. Katherine is also amazing at killing shamblers. She also dealt with a lot but she kept moving forward and doing what she thought was best and that’s what I like most about Katherine she never loses sight of what’s important.

Quotes

~ “You cannot go around threatening murder whenever someone annoys you.”

My Thoughts

~ Deathless Divide takes place right after Dread Nation and the fall of Summerland. Jane and Katherine are with a small group from Summerland trying to safely make it to Nicodermus.

~ I feel bad for Jane she lost someone so soon after learning things about them that were being kept secret. It just made her feel like she wasn’t enough.

~ Anytime the group travels they’re risking their lives and there were a few times I was worried that shamblers would catch up with them.

~ In Nicodermus the girls see some familiar faces from Summerland and that’s when Jane learns that Nicodermus may not be as safe as they originally thought.

~ Gideon Carr is in Nicodermus and he continues to look for a vaccine that will give people immunity to the shamblers bite but he ends up doing more damage than good.

~ After everything that happens in Nicodermus Jane and Katherine are separated, this hurt me. I didn’t like that the two girls were apart. And this is where Jane changes and ends up becoming a cold blooded killer.

~ Katherine on the other hand heads west and tries to find the town that Janes mother may have been headed too.

~ I love the relationship between Katherine and Jane they balance each other out and over time they’ve become best friends.

Overall

This book pulled at all my heartstrings. I LOVED every moment of this book and I’m so glad that we got both of the girls POVs. The friendship between the two girls is heart warming and they truly look out for each other. The ending was amazing, everything about this book is amazing. If you haven’t read Dread Nation yet pick it up and then read Deathless Divide, don’t miss out!