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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Zombie combat throughout; decapitations and battlefield violence; characters die
Language
Some
Moderate language; Jane's voice is blunt and confident
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use of note
Emotional Intensity
Some
Racial exploitation dressed as protection, the system that criminalizes the people it claims to safeguard, Jane's fierce refusal to be defined by others' expectations
What this book is about
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the dead rose and the Civil War ended differently than anyone planned. Two decades later, Black and Native children are trained as Attendants — fighters tasked with protecting white society from the shambling dead. Jane McKeene, raised on a Kentucky estate, is about to graduate from one of these combat schools when she uncovers a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the political elite. Justina Ireland's alternate history is a sharp, action-packed novel about race, exploitation, and who gets to be considered fully human.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
zombie combat violence throughout
racial exploitation as central theme
characters in constant mortal danger
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