Feed by Mira Grant - REVIEW

Feed (Newsflesh #1) by Mira Grant

Publication Date: May 1st, 2010

Publisher: Orbit

Genre: Sci-fi Horror

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Synopsis:

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.

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Thoughts:

Whoa, OK so I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started this book (that has been sitting on my shelf for 5+ years), but I really had no idea. I was somewhat expecting The Walking Dead with working tech. What it actually was, was a first person account of a young journalist trying to make it big while dealing with the normal everyday threat that are zombies and uncovering a pretty deep political plot during the biggest break of her career.

It was ironic to me that I chose to read this book now, during a pandemic, with political unrest and an election going on South of my Canadian border. It took me a little bit of time to adjust to what this story would actually be about and change my reading brain from being prepared for horror to actually dealing with political conspiracies. It’s a bit hard for my to unpack this one but, long story short, I enjoyed it but will have to be in the right mindset to read the next in the trilogy.

Feed managed to make me feel stressed, hopeful, curious and still gave me such a surprise that I did not see coming. Grant was able to make you look one way while setting up a twist that will propel the story beyond the first book and genuinely shock you. Or at least it caught me off guard to the point I had to re-read the passage and think about how I maybe should have seen it coming but was so happy I didn’t.

This is really about our two main characters Georgia and Shaun who were adopted by renowned journalists which is a career they both have been working towards. The way that Grant brings the news to a whole new level seems like a natural progression in the light of the events that lead up to where we are at the start of this book. More people are getting accurate news from bloggers and they are all in competition with each other to be the most viewed site. When Georgia and Shaun catch a big break, they know that it was the opportunity their team had been waiting for.

I loved how Georgia and Shaun are so different and have their own methods, their own journalistic styles and their own views but they are ultimately bound together in this life and will do absolutely anything for the other. Their relationship was at times maybe a little too close in my opinion but, who knows, maybe that’s what happens when you grow up in a zombie-infested world and your parents only want to use you for hits on their site. Georgia is unwavering in her integrity and wanting to give the people the truth no matter what while Shaun is a bit of a wildcard who wants to run into danger for the views. This dynamic allows you to see their differences as well as their loyalty and I really enjoyed each of their interactions.

The other side of this story is following a Presidential election circuit and all of the drama that unfolds. Turns out there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to keep our journalists busy in their quest to have the truth be known and Grant was able to bring you along for the ride in a way that was informative, realistic and interesting.

With how events were left at the end of the book, I am very interested to see just how big this story will get and how broken souls continue.