Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a lovely & well-done companion novel to the world of Newsflesh. However, it didn't capture me in the same intoxicating way as the trilogy.
HOWEVER. The big things I loved were the queer rep, the found family (which is much stronger & much less dysfunctional here than in the trilogy), and the diversity of characters.
Even though I read the trilogy immediately before this book, because of my own memory issues I did find it a little hard to piece together where the trilogy lines up with this novel and where/if there are Easter Egg connections. I'm not one to really look at wikis while reading to confirm details, so I have lingering questions.
Overall, I think this is a lovely book but it wasn't quite what I hoped it would be.
HOWEVER. The big things I loved were the queer rep, the found family (which is much stronger & much less dysfunctional here than in the trilogy), and the diversity of characters.
Even though I read the trilogy immediately before this book, because of my own memory issues I did find it a little hard to piece together where the trilogy lines up with this novel and where/if there are Easter Egg connections. I'm not one to really look at wikis while reading to confirm details, so I have lingering questions.
Overall, I think this is a lovely book but it wasn't quite what I hoped it would be.
Loved being back in that world. Not as amazing as the first 3, but still good. Good enough I hope for a #5!
adventurous
dark
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There’s a common criticism of Grant that says she rewrites the same story, more or less, between the Newsflesh trilogy and the Parasitology trilogy. I imagine there are those who will say that Feed Back is simply rehashing Feed, and in some ways it is, but as a diehard lover of all three Newsflesh books, as well as all of the novellas, I have to say that Feed Back is my favorite of the lot. Part of it has to do with the fact that I identify more with this specific team of Newsies. Aislynn, Ben, and Mat are a group of liberal young adults who are scrounging to make it as mid-level bloggers. They don’t have the star-power of the Masons behind them, and unlike Georgia and Shaun, there not in the business to change the world. They want to make a living and find a way to survive in the zombie-filled world around them, full stop. It’s refreshing, really.
Also, Feed Back is more focused than Feed. To me, Feed and its sequels tried to cover too much ground. Zombies, and cloning, and government corruption, and US politics, and incest, and fifteen-minutes-into-the-future tech, and and and. Meanwhile, the characters were snobs, as Aislynn rightfully describes them, with a decent amount of privilege, and major biases against anyone who didn’t react to the world the same way they did. Feed Back gives Grant’s readers another window into this Post-Rising world, one that’s queerer, more diverse, and also has far more female solidarity than we got through they eyes of stand-offish Georgia Maosn. I particularly liked the 180 degree spin on the characterization of Senator Wagman, who Georgia describes as a ““publicity-seeking prostitute who decided to pole-dance on the Constitution for spare change.” Way to slut-shame, George.
The fact that this book came out post-2014, when Grant sets her zombie outbreak, allowed for some excellent pop-culture shoutouts that couldn’t be in the original. I couldn’t help uttering a sigh of if only when I read about how the Rising led to a shortage of Frozen merchandise! All-in-all, I’m sure this book will have its detractors, and I’m not sure it covers new ground in the Newsflesh universe, but in my opinion it covers trodden ground in a far more entertaining and relatable way.
There are some truly inspired cameos, too, especially the few that require one to have read all of the novellas to catch!
Also, Feed Back is more focused than Feed. To me, Feed and its sequels tried to cover too much ground. Zombies, and cloning, and government corruption, and US politics, and incest, and fifteen-minutes-into-the-future tech, and and and. Meanwhile, the characters were snobs, as Aislynn rightfully describes them, with a decent amount of privilege, and major biases against anyone who didn’t react to the world the same way they did. Feed Back gives Grant’s readers another window into this Post-Rising world, one that’s queerer, more diverse, and also has far more female solidarity than we got through they eyes of stand-offish Georgia Maosn. I particularly liked the 180 degree spin on the characterization of Senator Wagman, who Georgia describes as a ““publicity-seeking prostitute who decided to pole-dance on the Constitution for spare change.” Way to slut-shame, George.
The fact that this book came out post-2014, when Grant sets her zombie outbreak, allowed for some excellent pop-culture shoutouts that couldn’t be in the original. I couldn’t help uttering a sigh of if only when I read about how the Rising led to a shortage of Frozen merchandise! All-in-all, I’m sure this book will have its detractors, and I’m not sure it covers new ground in the Newsflesh universe, but in my opinion it covers trodden ground in a far more entertaining and relatable way.
There are some truly inspired cameos, too, especially the few that require one to have read all of the novellas to catch!
It's been a while since I read Feed, and I can't remember the plot all that well, so I can't compare the timelines as well as I'd like.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was this needed? No
Was it too long? Yes
Was it worth the read?… maybe??
It was a side characters story done wrong in my opinion. Nothing was compelling and it felt like keeping up with the Jones’. While I liked the spunk of our FMC, she was very one note. All of her found family was. There was a disconnect and because of that, I could not enjoy the story as much as I wanted to.
The one sparkle in the book was that one of the presidential candidates from the OG series wasn’t who she was made out to be and I loved that. Work what you got babe!
Was it too long? Yes
Was it worth the read?… maybe??
It was a side characters story done wrong in my opinion. Nothing was compelling and it felt like keeping up with the Jones’. While I liked the spunk of our FMC, she was very one note. All of her found family was. There was a disconnect and because of that, I could not enjoy the story as much as I wanted to.
The one sparkle in the book was that one of the presidential candidates from the OG series wasn’t who she was made out to be and I loved that. Work what you got babe!
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated