Review: Feed by Mira Grant

Feed by Mira Grant

Orbit, May 2010

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Official Description:

"Alive or dead, the truth won't rest. My name is Georgia Mason, and I am begging you. Rise up while you can."

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we had created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over buddies 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.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. In a world where capturing the news has been outsourced to the blogosphere, the brother and sister partnership of Georgia and Shaun is both fun and sympathetic and the journey they invite the reader into is thrilling and engaging.

Each chapter is punctuated by a blog post, poem or quotation that both sets the stage for the coming chapter and gives further insight into the mindset of the character. I really enjoyed this set up and at times it was extremely moving- even to tears at one point.

I thought that the zombies were well utilized. They weren't the focus of the novel but they provided the framework for the society; the technology, social cues, cultural norms, political positions and catalysis for movement. I appreciated the scientific approach to the zombies and especially how that was revealed to the reader in a very gradual and natural manner. It was also neat to see how Grant had thought through how the political machines would be affected by the introduction of the zombie threat.

I really enjoyed Mira Grant's writing style and was really impressed by how the shift in perspective character before the final action sequence was handled. It was carried out very smoothly and didn't interrupt the flow of the narrative.

I highly recommend reading Feed and I definitely look forward to reading the sequel, Deadline.

Written as Part of the Speculative Fiction Challenge

Other June Reviews from the Speculative Fiction Challenge