by Ron Supan

The Newsflesh series by Mira Grant is not your usual zombie read. When was the last time you read about a journalist who, at one moment, was uncovering truths, then poking zombies with sticks and shooting their brains out the next?

1. Countdown (#0.5) (e-book only)

THE STORY

The year is 2014, the year everything changed. We cured cancer. We cured the common cold. We died.

This is the story of how we rose.

When will you rise? Read reviews: Goodreads

WHAT I LIKED

I read this prequel before starting the series proper because I believe being aware of the origins will help the reader understand the story better. It’s up to you if you want to read this prior to or after reading the Newsflesh novels, but as for my experience, it saved me from the possible struggles of wondering where this or that came from or why this or that happened.

HOWEVER…

There were too many medical terms that a simple reader might not understand unless they have a medical degree. I admit I wrestled with those words and had to keep Google open to do a definition search just in case.

tl;dr

Some zombie novels will begin and end without giving a single clue about the origin of the story, and that’s why I’m very grateful for this novella.

2. Feed (#1.0)

 

THE STORY

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. Read reviews: Goodreads

WHAT I LIKED

Most zombie novels these days have similar plots: a team of people look for an escape from the center of the devastation, try to reunite with the remaining living humans, and struggle to seek an antidote to immunize the living or cure the infected. It can be tiresome when the zombie books you pick contain recycled stories, which is why the approach in Feed stood out against the rest.

 

Feed is not really focused on hardcore zombie killing action, which what I like about it, though it still contains some action scenes. It concentrates more on the profession of our protagonists, like exposing every truth they gather without thinking about the consequences it may bring and using the blog media for their revelations. It made me feel as if this is what reality would be like if somehow the zombie apocalypse happened.

It also made me appreciate the work reporters do. I salute all journalists who remain true and honest to their jobs!

HOWEVER…

I found some situations repetitive, which irritated me sometimes but not too much to put the book down.

tl;dr

We might learn a thing or two from Feed. With some people’s lust for power, the state of the Newsflesh world is not that different from where we are now. We might not have those walking corpses who gorge on guts and brains, but what we have are these zombies with excessive desire for money and power a.k.a. greedy politicians.

3. Fed (#1.5) (e-book only)

THE STORY

This novella gives us an alternate ending for Feed and if it had ended this way, the whole series would have stopped here. That’s it.

WHAT I LIKED

Fed gave us a justified ending but also a very heartbreaking one. I doubt it will give most readers the satisfaction they crave for. You can either read it or not, but you won’t miss anything if you don’t.

tl;dr

I suggest you do not read this unless you’ve finished the three main novels. I made that mistake myself and read Fed immediately after Feed, then regretted it afterward. I don’t want you to feel the same, but again it’s all up to you. ☁