Feed by Mira Grant parts 3 and 4 - readalong

Parts one and two are here.

I had already read Feed when it came out, but, given the chance to nominate it for a readalong, I realized there were far worse books to reread and enjoy with others. While I am disappointed that not everyone enjoyed Feed as well as I did, I had some new insights, reading it along with them, got some new perspectives, and gained a new appreciation for this book and the world it's set in. I'm looking forward even more to Blackout, the final installment in the Newsflesh trilogy.

I'm also looking forward to the novella about SDCC in 2014, which happens during the Rising. Apparently it features Browncoats. I mention that only because George, our cranky narrator, alludes to San Diego's Comic Con and how there were 120,000 people in one conference center, and it wasn't pretty. Also, Mira Grant says in the interview section in the back of the book that she learned about crowd psychology through large science fiction conventions.

I promised not to spoil anything, being the only one of the group who's read farther than this book. And so, without spoiling anything, I will say that the ending we got is the one that the story called for. Anything less heart-wrenching wouldn't have served the narrative, wouldn't have fulfilled the promises early on in the book, wouldn't have had the same impact. It was necessary, and had just as strong an impact the second time around. There were nearly tears.

I also hadn't realized how tight the pacing was. I remember there being down time within the narrative, and, while it does take place over several months, every single scene in this nearly-600-page book is necessary. As I read, I wondered where the space between the scenes where things happen was. Apparently I only remembered them because I was so impatient to finish that I couldn't read it fast enough.

I'm going to reread Deadline before May to catch up and see if I missed anything else. I remember that as much more tightly-plotted, so we'll see how it stacks up to what I remember.

I don't know yet what we're doing a readalong for March, but I'm exempting myself from the nomination, since my book won this month. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll look at it in a different way than I would've if I'd read it on my own.

Other readalong participants:
Grace at Feeding my Book Addiction
Jennifer at Book Den
Brittany at Self-styled Bibliophile