Read: December 2017
Expected Publishing Date: January 30th, 2018
Rating: 2/5 stars
Nick Clark Windo's debut novel, The Feed, is a post-apocalyptic 'thriller' where society's reliance on the Feed- basically a computer chip that is implanted in the brain, making real life communication and reading, among other things, obsolete- is to such an extent that when it mysteriously collapses, the world is brought back to an uncivilized and crude state. In this new world, we follow Tom, the son of the Feed's inventor, and his wife Kate as they attempt to survive with no knowledge of how to perform the necessary manual labors to live, how to read the few books that do remain, or even how to access their own memories without trying to use the unconnected Feed. On top of that, they must be vigilant of each other whilst sleeping, for a new 'disease' emerges in the night, taking those with the Feed at random and with no explanation. Despite all of these hardships, Tom and Kate are able to survive in a camp with other people for six years...that is until their daughter, Bea, is kidnapped, forcing them to search for her. But on their journey, they unexpectedly find the reason behind the Collapse, changing their perspective on those who have been taken by the 'disease'. This novel is filled with philosophical questions pertaining to technology and progress, as one might expect, but also to humankind's interactions with each other and the Earth they live on.
While this philosophical element and the general premise of The Feed is intriguing, I must say that overall I did not mesh well with this novel. Though I particularly enjoyed the writing style implemented in describing the collapse of the Feed, altogether it was confusing and disjointed: there are inconsistencies in the storyline and in the perspective (it jumps between 1st person and 3rd person within a single paragraph), it is unclear in some statements being made, and it contains some editorial mistakes (for this latter, I am a little biased, as editorial mistakes are a reading pet peeve of mine, and to everyone else might be overlooked or unimportant). This confusion in the writing could be a literary device used to mirror the uncertainty that the characters are feeling, but it is done to such an extent that it becomes difficult to follow the plotline, which is a shame because I think the concept is very interesting. However, I will admit that I did not see the plot twist coming, and was thoroughly surprised, but even this was not done very cohesively. In summary, I unfortunately find that The Feed is much better in theory than it is in its execution.
If you have read and enjoyed books like The Maze Runner by James Dashner or Divergent by Veronica Roth, then you will most likely enjoy The Feed by Nick Clark Windo.