Feed is a much more complex novel than it appears to be. So much of the story is told by things left unsaid or details told in single sentences sandwiched in between unrelated paragraphs. The blurb on the back of the book is totally misleading. The girl, Violet, is not a rebel and shes not out to change the world. Shes a lower middle-class teen. Her mother left and her father, a college professor, home schools her. The narrator, Titus, meets her on a spring break trip to the moon. Violet wants to fit in with the normal kids, but her way of speaking and thinking creates a chasm between them.What makes this story different that the typical coming-of-age novel is the futuristic setting in which most people have computer interfaces installed in their brains when they are infants. These feeds provide people with instant access to any information they could possibly want. But, they mainly use it to message each other and to shop. The feed subjects them to a constant barrage of advertising thats directed to them based on their shopping and browsing habits. Sound familiar? While on the moon, Titus, some of his friends and Violet are touched by a creepy old man who infects their feeds with a virus. The teens are hospitalized for a few weeks and their feeds are disconnected until its certain they are virus free. Unfortunately, the virus causes permanent damage to Violets feed with disturbing results.In the background, you slowly come to understand that the Earth that these teens inhabit has gone seriously wrong. Most people have access to untold consumer goods. They can communicate with others quickly and silently. They live in a Jetsons-style world with upcars and houses in bubbles connected by tubes. (Maybe its a giant human Habitrail?) It sounds kind of utopian until you realize that a forest has been torn down to make an air factory, you can only go to the seashore wearing something like a space suit, and there are mentions of radiation levels increasing. Whats disturbing is that the characters see all this as normal. They are so caught up in pop-culture and consumerism that they dont see all the really terrible things happening around them and to them. Theyre getting oozing lesions and they think its really cool and fashionable. They dont even stop to wonder whats causing the lesions or realize that lesions are signs of disease. One thing I give Anderson credit for is never telling the reader outright what the cause of the lesions is. I figured it out, but I suspect a lot of readers, especially younger readers, will miss it.I saw some complaints about the way the story is told; that its too slangy and hard to understand. I didnt find this to be the case. I thought the slang created for this book was perfectly suited for the characters and the setting. Anderson doesnt try to mimic the way teenagers today talk and how they think. Instead, he creates a teen language that is based on having 24/7 access to information and entertainment inside your head. Yet, he also managed to keep quite a bit of timeless adolescent attitude in the story. These kids werent any smarter or less attitudinal than kids have been for the last fifty years. In fact, they arent quite as savvy as modern kids. I highly recommend this book for any reader over 13. Its intelligent and thought provoking. It doesnt give the reader all the answers; it makes him or her work for them. I was very impressed.

Ahoy there me mateys. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. I know that I just read another book about implants but an audio copy of this was in the hold of a local library and so I commandeered it. From Scalzis BrainPal in the Old Mans War series to Guppi in we are legion (we are bob) to multiple books in the hold like the red by linda ngatat and hot-head by simon ings waiting to be read I have always been fascinated about the pros and cons of having an implant in me head and being continuously connected to a feed.I cant say that I liked this book and was in fact thinking about making it walk the plank. But it was one of those books that I really enjoyed thinking about after the fact. I have been pretty much continuously pondering the concepts of this book over the last two days.One reason is because the audio book was just so well done. I had tried to read this book before and never could get into it. But the idea of the feed fascinates me and so many people loved this one. So I gave the audio book a shot. I think this be one of the experiences where the audio book enriched me enjoyment.Ye see, I actually disliked every character especially the main narrator. I disliked what society had become. I disliked that there really was strong plot. And yet listening to the slang and language of the characters and how the feed was portrayed felt so realistic. The commercials and advertisements were just amazing. Excellent production values. Horrible products. It is a future I never want to live in but I think the author did a fantastic job presenting a plausible possibility. I cant stop thinking about the writing.In this version of our future, the world is a toxic wasteland, the corporations own everything, and the feeds main purpose seems to be to control the populist with a consumer driven culture. The feed tells everyone what to buy, listen to, and almost how to feel.The main story-line follows Titus and a girl he meets on the moon named Violet. The young people are out at a club when their feeds are hacked and they are without the feed until it gets fixed. Only Violets feed cant be fixed properly. This book explores the consequences of a malfunctioning feed, Tituss conflicting thoughts about Violet and her non-standard ideas about the feed, and some of the larger ideas and problems of a feed-driven society.It had quite a shift of me own in perspective. I went from thinking the book was awful immediately after I finished reading to enjoying the thoughts after the journey and finally growing to respect the authors work. I will likely never re-read this again because I still dont like it but I love the way it enriched me brain. Arrr!Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...

If you were to choose only one YA book to read in your lifetime, it should be this book.Feed portrays the near future world North Americans are currently barreling towards, and, as a result, this book is horrifying, terrifying, and brilliant all at the same time. You don't need to read my review, you need to go out and read this book, now. It's a fast pace and shouldn't take very long to whip through. I keep it on my shelf because it's genius, but it's so chilling I can't stand to reread it.It's not often I agree with the big gun awards out there but Feed richly deserves its status as: National Book Award Finalist, star PW, and star Kirkus, it should have won the Newberry. Probably would have if it wasn't SF.