Synopsis
With echoes of The Road, New York Times bestselling author Anthony Ryan’s The Feeding is a brilliant postapocalyptic novel that is perfect for fans of Justin Cronin, M. R. Carey, and Alexis Henderson.
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 theater. 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?
Review
Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone publishing for the audio arc. I have been aware of this author, but this was actually my first read! Sorry it’s taken me a minute to write this review up.
The feeding happened and the world stopped. Those few survivors hide in gated and walled cities, towns, or anywhere fortifiable. When in need, they’re forced to make crossings to other settlements, relying on safe houses to stop each day before night falls. Layla is scared of losing the people she loves. When one desperately needs antibiotics, she’s forced to make a decision: cross or watch them suffer and die.
One thing that did stick out to me, and because it’s mentioned so often, was like a sore thumb, is the feeding itself. Even the first lines of the synopsis state it was 15 years ago…so I found myself wondering why it’s the title of the book? Even if it is a cool name for a book. Especially as it’s not actually the basis of the story. The Crossing would have been more accurate.
I saw this posed as a zombie novel, and in part it reads like one. I’ve seen comparisons to The Maze Runner, and I would include the likes of I am Legend, the Dying Light games, and (especially during the training scenes) even The Hunger Games. Interestingly enough, they are most definitely vampires—although maybe not the iconic version you’ll think of. Some are mindless feeders, and then they also tier in intelligence, which definitely felt akin to the I am Legend movie (with shadows of the story itself too). Either way, it was a post apocalyptic world that felt familiar, while also new. The safe houses reminded me of Left4Dead and the fear of being out at night was like an atmospheric cloak the novel wore, raising the terror of a setting sun.
Layla was a good character for a lead. Both solid on her feet and insanely shocked at the outside world. Her determination and survival instincts are things that any reader could root for. She even becomes a kind of final girl, as she refuses to give up no matter what it takes. As this covers her becoming a crosser as well as her first attempt at crossing, it allowed for the reader to learn and adapt to the world as she did—opening up for more explanation and world building without it feeling heavy handed.
There are familiar feeling beats, where the stakes and tension mirror things we know and love (at least me (and I assume) other lovers of post-apoc) and I personally feel like they were well done. Without them, the world wouldn’t have remained a familiar place, may not have felt like the story we were looking for, but then the author left himself room to explore what he created too. There are some notes of the twist and reveal that remind me of the overarching plot of Marvel Zombies, and I’m glad that I read this first and then made connections.
The opening, while still including action and a buildup in plot, was a little on the longer side for me. However, the remainder of the story was a really solid and fun pacing. Not quite breakneck, as there is room for character growth and emotional building, but fast enough to hold a bit of that tension in your gut. No matter where they are, what time it is, or how prepared they are, they are never safe.
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