Feed By Mira Grant

Feed

by Mira Grant

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.

I am not a person who likes politics.  I hate to hear political discussions and I run at the slightest hint of a debate.  I don't like the way politics can make some reasonably sane people turn to hatred and bashing to get their point across.  I have never seen a calm and rational political discussion.  

If a book has any hint of politics, I may read it but without much hope of actually liking it.  Who knew that all I needed was the addition of some flesh-crazed zombies to secure my interest?

Politics = Meh. 
Politics + Zombies = Awesome.

This story follows two sibling bloggers who are reporting from the campaign trail of a presidential-hopeful.  After regular media let the world down by not reporting the first initial zombie outbreaks, bloggers are the most trusted source for news and views.  Shaun and Georgia are two such bloggers.  She is a "Newsie" who reports strict facts with as little opinion as possible and he is an "Irwin", the type of blogger most known for their daring acts of 'watch me poke this zombie with a stick'.  Together they make a remarkable team.

Told in first person POV, the story is a brilliant mix of suspenseful fight scenes and tense political discussion.  The politics are far enough removed from our own issues to keep it from becoming irritating. 

I really liked the overall feeling to the story.  It was tense and had the feeling of being balanced precariously on the edge of something horrible.  The world has managed to (somewhat) come back from the near-annihilation of civilization, and there are cities full of terrified people living behind walls and under constant monitoring with blood tests and virus screening. 

Shaun and Georgia are very well thought-out characters.  They are extremely co-dependent, but who can blame them in this situation? 
They have each other's backs through everything that happens.  In a world when zombies aren't the only monsters out there, it's a very good thing they can rely on each other so much. 

The characters drew me in immediately and I cared more about them than I did anything else that happened in the book.  The plot was great but the characters were what brought me back to the book hour after hour.   

The writing style is straightforward and not prone to flowery description and it fits the story expertly.  Much like Georgia's own writing, it is the simple facts of events and emotions caused by them.  All told with Georgia's dry humor.   

4 out of 5 stars