Review: Feed (The Newsflesh Trilogy)

Purchase Feed (The Newsflesh Trilogy) here.

Synopsis:

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat 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, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.


FEED is the electrifying and critically acclaimed novel of a world a half-step from our own---a novel of geeks, zombies, politics and social media.

Review:

After finishing Feed, I sat in stunned silence for two minutes, spent five minutes crying like a child, and then rushed to my computer.  If you've been reading for a while, you'll remember that Divergent kicked me off on a YA dystopian kick that lasted for months; I firmly believe Feed will do the same for zombie apocalypse novels for me (seriously, I just purchased the rest of the trilogy as well as two more books that were recommended as similar).

It's been a while since I've fallen so completely into the world of a book.  I found myself squinting at lights (despite my lack of retinal Kellis-Amberlee), reaching for my non-existent gun, and forgetting that my awesome new hat wasn't also recording everything around me.  It's probably because the world is so beautifully thought out; for starters, Mira Grant doesn't just position bloggers as credible with a vague "it's the future" response.  She cites a reasonable cause for the rise of bloggers as news sources (failure of mainstream media) that is both believable and relevant to current events, with entire revolutions only having Twitter to get their message out of the country.  Grant constructs an entire world and culture around the outbreak that makes it feel as though she's gone through the situations herself.

Aside from the intricate set up, the story in itself is amazing.  It's wonderfully written, full of suspense and political intrigue, along with a healthy amount of the humanity of her characters shining through.  Grant builds tension expertly, causing me to tear through the nearly 600-page novel in around 4 days (and that's during midterms).

A warning: the novel is fairly graphic.  If that's not your thing, I have a review of some less gory zombie novels here.  But if you can handle your blood and guts, I cannot recommend this book enough.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda