BOOK REVIEW: Feed by Mira Grant

Feed is the first book in the Newsflesh series written by Mira Grant. It was published by Orbit on the 1^st May 2010 and the ISBN is 0316081051. Feed was a Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel in 2011. I purchased this book.

PLOT

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them

WHY I BOUGHT IT

I thought I would give the zombie genre another try after not really syncing up with World War Z which just didn’t work for me. I only found out that Feed was award nominated while preparing this review but after the fact I can understand why.

I for one would be far more excited about the prospect of this being made into a instant blockbuster than World War Z but to be fair that has been out a heck of a lot longer.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I will be honest I went into this book more than a little wary after World War Z and the first few chapters I was beginning to roll my eyes in anticipation of another dry fact filled zombie adventure. Thankfully it began to pick up and then it started rolling on like a runaway express train. What Feed does is a lot of world building especially in the beginning which can make the reading tough going but get passed that and it is like a plane that has made it out of turbulence – smooth sailing.

The characters are fairly believable and very well written and you want to know what happens to all of them.

What I hated? Actually surprisingly little allowing for the fact that the first quarter of the book makes for hard reading but really nothing else particularly felt wrong or bothered me about this book. I would warn you though that it can get more than a little depressing so be prepared for that. The one thing I have to mention is the journalism propaganda and the endless talk of searching for the truth, it is so idealised that I was worried it was going to give me a cavity of put me in a sugar coma but that is just me and my very low opinion of journalism.

What I loved? The detail oh my goodness the level of detail was amazing that is the sort of world building that you might see in TV shows like the Star Trek franchise after TNG, the amount of lore they squeeze into that book is quite frankly breathtaking.

I also loved the way events weave together and the fact that it never just devolves into flesh chomping zombie hordes, there is also method to the madness as the conspiracy goes ever deeper and darker. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is how the zombie phenomenon came to be which I won’t spoil here but it is an interesting commentary on the human condition especially Western society. Read on to find out the whole story.

Feed is a great read which sucks you right into a richly detailed world be advised though this is the book in a trilogy so you’ll be left desperate to learn about the next chapter.