Feed by Mira Grant review (a book to read before you die)

Feed by Mira Grant (Newsflesh #1)

library copy


Synopsis from Goodreads
In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks.

It raised the dead.

Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed "The Rising," and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all:

When will you rise?

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Oh. My. God. This book hit me hard. I had this never ending worry and tension in me, rapid heartbeat and tears in my eyes by the end.


The writing was extremely powerful, the plot strong and linear,  characters fantastic and the detalization was amazing. This is the best book of the year so far for me.


I know a lot of people didn't like the book, some found it dull, so take my words with a grain of salt: you might not like it at all.


George, Shaun, and Buffy are the first bloggers to win a chance to cover Senator Ryman's presidential campaign, which they do. But along the way the campaign experiences terrorist attacks which use zombies as their weapon. A lot of people die. The bloggers start to investigate the attacks and uncover the conspiracy so huge it might cost them their lives...


I don't want to go into details, but give you an entry from George's blog instead and let it speak for itself.

The trouble with the news is simple: People, especially ones on the ends of power spectrum, like it when you're afraid. The people who have the power want you scared. They want you walking around paralyzed by the notion that you could die at any moment. There is always something to be afraid of. It used to be terrorists. Now it's zombies.
What does it have to do with the news? This: the truth isn't scary. Not when you understand it, not when you understand the repercussions of it, and not when you aren't worried that something's being kept from you. The truth is only scary when you think part of it might be missing. And those people? They like it when you're scared. So they do their best to sit on the truth, to sensationalize the truth, to filter the truth in ways that make it something you can be afraid of.
If we didn't have to fear the truths we didn't hear, we'd lose the need to fear the ones we did. People should consider that.

            - From The Images May Disturb You,
            the blog of Georgia Mason, April 2, 2040

The book shook me. It hit close to home. The details made the dystopia so real and vivid I could easily see it happening.

If I could give it 11/10 I would (but it doesn't go to eleven). Pun intended for the fans of Spinal Tap.

By the way, a lot of us know Mira Grant as Seanan McGuire - the author who I absolutely loved even before this book. Now I'm a rabid fan.

* * *

Боже мой! Это книга, которую надо прочитать хотя бы раз в жизни. Давно меня что-то так сильно не затрагивало. Я кусала губы, я размышляла, я держалась за сильно бьющееся сердце, я сдерживала слёзы в конце.

Госпожа Мира, она же Шинан МакГвайер, я снимаю шляпу - это было так бесподобно, что я сегодня утром, вернувшись в 4 часа домой тут же купила продолжение.

Многим не понравился Feed, кому-то это книга показалась скучной, поэтому я предупреждаю, что стиль повествования не придётся каждому по вкусу.

В 2014 году учёные создали 2 лекарства - одно от рака, второе от простуды, больше этих болезней не стало, но скрестившись в имунной системе человека они создали совершенно новый вирус - Келлис-Амберли, который после смерти превращает нас в зомби.

В 2039 году новости по всему миру в основном передаются блоггерами, и три из них брат и сестра Джорджи и Шон, плюс их подруга ещё одна Джорджи, которая обзывает себя Баффи - выигрывают шанс освещать президентскую кампанию сенатора Раймана, как первые блоггеры в мире.

Во время кампании они раскрывают заговор, который настолько огромен, что его расследование и освещение будет стоить им и многим людям их жизни...

Всё, по сюжету больше не хочу. Но структура, сюжет, повествование просто сказочные. Всё мрачно и жёстко и настолько подробно, что эта дистопия кажется абсолютно реальной. Книга сместила мои любимые Голодные Игры с педестала, и теперь стала моей любимой.

(цитата - см.выше)

 10/10