In the second chapter of Feed, we learn more about what America has become in the future. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Feed.
Chapter Two
There’s not much that truly happens in this chapter to advance the plot, but I’m getting a better sense of how this environment operates. At the very least, I understand more of the world that Mira Grant is building. That’s important to me, as I said in the last review, because I need to know what’s going to separate this book from the rest of zombie lore. In a lot of ways, Grant just openly accepts many things, including reverence for Romero, general rules of transmission, and the idea that in order to survive, humans must operate under strict behavioral rules. We see some of those in this chapter, such as the locking of the van once someone leaves.
But what I can already tell makes this book special is the way in which I am learning the story. I’m get the sense that the title of this trilogy, Newsflesh, will address how news and information is distilled in this dystopian world. Georgia and Shaun’s blogs both appear to be rather popular, and in this chapter, we learn their partner, Buffy, writes a fiction blog concerning love during a zombie apocalypse. Seriously, Buffy’s entry isn’t exactly the most stellar writing on the face of the earth (and I suspect that’s the point of it), but the mere introduction of a third type of blog just made this book so much more fascinating to me. What else is there? Are there millions of blogs all competing for attention? Have blogs just outright replaced the news we’re used to? Are there more fiction blogs? IS THERE REAL-ZOMBIE FANFICTION? Holy crap, this just expanded this fictional world for me, and I think it’s genius.
Aside from this, most of what I learn here is either worldbuilding or character building. I meet BUFFY! Oh god, and her name is INTENTIONAL. Oh, and the zombie apocalypse is called the Rising. THAT NAME IS SO COOL. So Buffy existed pre-Rising, and Georgette was quite the fan. I also liked the reveal that the three most common names for girls are Georgia, Georgette, and Barbara. LONG LIVE ROMERO.
But that’s most of what I got out of this chapter. Grant is still setting things up, and in the process, I’m learning what America is like. I’m discovering these characters, too, and finding out what their lives have been like. In the case of Shaun and Georgia, who were adopted, they were born into a world full of zombies. They’ve never known anything else. But it’s not just this; they’ve lost their brother, and I’m sure they’ve lost many friends over the years. I imagine this is just what life is like for everyone. Again, it’s what the world is now. They don’t have a choice about it. Animals can spread the virus, you have to take drastic measures to insure you’re not infected even if you weren’t bit, and you’ve got to do all of this knowing that at any moment, your best friend or lover or sibling has to be locked outside to fend for themselves until the inevitable comes.
Death. Or a second death. You can’t escape either.
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