Clare L. Deming

I just finished reading an advance copy of The Feeding by Anthony Ryan a few days ago and wanted to get a review up quickly because it is being released officially this week. You can pick up a copy of your own on August 12 either on Amazon (paid link – click here) or through my new shop on Bookshop.com (click here). I want to thank Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to get my hands on this early! Read on below to see what I thought.

Here is the blurb:

Fifteen years ago the feeders rose from the shadows to transform the world into a graveyard. The few survivors exist in fortified settlements surrounded by the empty ruins of a destroyed civilization. For years the citizens of New City Redoubt have relied on an elite cadre of Crossers to navigate the feeder infested wasteland between settlements in order to trade for vital supplies. But the Outside is becoming ever more dangerous, and the ranks of the Crossers grow thinner with every crossing.

Layla, only a child when the Feeding destroyed the old world, spends her days scavenging the ruins for valuable scrap and her nights helping her adoptive family eke a living from the Redoubt’s only movie theatre. Now, with her father slowly dying, Layla resolves to join the Crossers to retrieve the medicine that can save him. Smart, ruthless, and fast on her feet, Layla quickly gains the respect of her fellow Crossers. But, in a world lost to the deadliest predators, can even the most cunning prey survive?

The Feeding is a stand-alone novel that I had a hard time starting. My progress stalled in the first chapter or two and I had to restart the book. However, that was a product of my own work schedule and other distractions, because once I was able to concentrate on my reading, this book really drew me in.

The post-apocalyptic setting was familiar and some of the protagonist, Layla’s, explorations reminded me of part of the Silo series by Hugh Howey mixed with The Last of Us (the show, I haven’t played the game). In my mind, the feeders were zombies, but that initial perception wasn’t true, for they were more accurately vampires once the setting is made clear. I particularly liked the way they were portrayed because they felt different from your stereotypical vampires that have been overdone in recent books and other media.

I found Layla’s journey in this story to be scary and I was alone in my house while reading most of this, so every creak and small noise made me imagine feeders closing in on me. I’m not generally a horror fan because the genre tends not to scare me, but this book did manage it! This is also not a happy story, but I think the set up for that is well done and no one that starts this book should expect all the characters to make it through the story.

The initial plot of the novel make me wonder about the scope of the story, and I didn’t see the central thread or antagonist right away. However, it steadily snuck up on me and I made the same catastrophic realization that Layla did about half a page before it was confirmed.

I felt for Layla and all her people, and was engaged in their struggles throughout the book. Everyone had believable motivations and the ending wrapped up all the loose ends, while leaving open the possibility of another book. It doesn’t NEED another book, but if the author wanted to write one, I’d read it.

Have you read anything else by Anthony Ryan? What other book would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.

I recently became an affiliate at Bookshop.org which is a really neat site that lets you buy books by picking a local independent book store to receive the profits from your purchases. I’m going to set up more lists, but for now, you can see the one I’ve started in the graphic below. Please click and check it out!

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