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Feed (Newsflesh Book 1) by Mira Grant

"Good guy team of bloggers fight to tell the truth, no matter what, while following the campaign of a would be Presidential hopeful. Though there were definitely surprising moments by the end of the book I was just ready for it to be done."

2 Stars

Pros: Though it was Zombies, something that has been covered over and over and over again, it put an interesting spin on the virus and what caused it and it had enough plot twists to keep me interested and reading. 

Cons: Grant goes into great detail about a lot of the online blogging/server jargon and I just zoned out/Georgia's constant emphasis on her retinal condition gets old/Georgia always being on the ball and knowing everything gets old fast (stereotypical, know it all, never wrong, female journalist stereotype IE Lois Lane). 

Full Review: 
Your run of the mill Zombie/Dystopian novel as told by three young adult bloggers who are chosen to blaze the campaign trail for a new Presidential hopeful. 

The virus that causes the dead to rise occurred when a recent vaccine for the common cold was developed and a few people, who thought American citizens had a right to that vaccine, broke into the labs, stole some samples and released it into the atmosphere via crop duster plane. 

While all this was going on there was also a cure for cancer being created. But when the two mixed together and the host body "died" the virus became active and caused them to rise from the dead and consume flesh. 

Georgia, her brother Shaun and their friend Buffy are all children of the Rising, the generation that grew to adulthood when all of this was happening. Zombies are no longer "News worthy" but the changes that they have had on the world is. It's been 20 year since the first case of Kellis-Amberlee and Georgia, Shaun and Buffy are chosen to cover the Campaign trail of a would be Presidential Candidate, Senator Peter Ryman. 

Georgia is a "Newsie", a journalist dedicated to revealing the truth at all costs with little to no emotions or opinions in her pieces. Shawn is an "Irwin", a journalist who seeks out thrills and adventures to blog about them later and Buffy is a "Fictional", writing romanticized poetry and fiction for the masses. Together, they cover basically any angle you may be interested in reading and so they make a good team. 

They arrive at the Ryman ranch and meet the Senator and his wife. They seem like down to Earth, genuinely, kind people, so I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it does. One bad thing after another befalls the Campaign trail as well as our intrepid crew of bloggers and though the end wasn't hard to guess at, it was still pretty surprising. 

This book isn't going to be winning a Pulitzer and a lot of the internet/blogging jargon went straight over my head and left me zoned out for pages upon pages as Grant tried to interest the reader in how maintaining a blogging site is done. Overall though, the book was entertaining for what it was. Your run of the mill, dystopian, good guys fight bad guys, the truth must be revealed at all costs thriller. It wasn't great but it wasn't awful, though by the end of it I was definitely ready for it to be over. 

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Zombies and also anyone who has any knowledge of journalism, blogging and overall media coverage. But for the most part, this book was pretty uneventful and forgettable. A summer/beach read if there ever was one. 

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