What a great read dystopian read, following a couple and their young daughter after 'The Collapse' (of the world). Set in presumably the near future Tom's father invented 'The Feed' a piece of permanent technology linking yourself to everyone else and the world around you. Now used by everyone on earth Tom thought he was alone in his dislike for The Feed and everything it stood for until he met Kate.
After the president was killed it is clear that terrorist cells are hijacking peoples Feeds and taking over their bodies and minds to commit world changing crimes and massive destruction. Cut to 6 years later, Tom, Kate and their young daughter Bea are living in a very small community with minimal resources, limited brain capacity and memory after years using the feed and the constant threat that your loved one maybe hijacked, but they are surviving and happy. Until Bea is kidnapped and the couple begin their million step journey across the country to find Bea and to get answers
Told from both Tom and Kate's perspectives it details the journey the couple must go on and the lengths they will travel in order to find their daughter. I loved the world-building and the great scene that is set of this newly destroyed world. It was brilliantly described as were the day to day tasks needed purely just to stay alive.
However I do think the story was lacking emotion, there were some moments in the book that normally would be considered utterly heart-wrenching, but that I found to be incredibly downplayed by the author. I also, I found the character development to be somewhat lacking. As the story is told from dual perspectives it would have been a great opportunity to explore the characters feelings and really get into their heads, sadly the author did not. We did have some superficial thoughts from the characters but it was mostly just facts and descriptions.
Aside from lack of connection, I found the twists and turns genuinely surprising they really expanded on the 'journey' theme, even taking the read into a different subgenre. The ending was not what I expected but was more than I could hope for. Not necessarily giving us all the answers yet giving us enough to provide us with hope. It was a really great ending to a really great read.

In the future - not that far in the future - the internet has morphed into The Feed. Through an implant, everyone is linked to news, peoples feeds, messages, emotions as well as chemical adjustments to keep their body at the optimum health and many more automatic functions. This is accessed in front of their eyes in some way, no device is needed. Better still you can get automatic backups (if you have enough money) so if you die you can just be downloaded into a synthetic body & continue. It all sounds wonderful until one day the US president is assassinated by a man who has been taken over - by whom? The world slowly collapses with people being taken over & going on killing sprees. We meet Tom & Kate six years later in a post apocalypic world where they are barely surviving. They are terrified of having their minds taken over, of running out of fuel, of strangers.....the world is a scary place.

This is a very complicated book which meanders back and forth between the post apocalyptic world and various points in the past. I must confess to not understanding all of the details about The Feed and its downfall but I very much liked the concept. It really wasn't that far fetched.

I am not sure that the book lived up to the idea. The rambling back and forth and between characters was slightly chaotic and I did get lost on occasion. There are complicated relationships with the past - particularly Tom's relationship with his brother which was actually a complication too far. A character Mark was introduced which the story could have coped well without. There was a lack of structure throughout.

The end of this book was quite rushed. As the end approached I thought that it would end on a cliffhanger and the story would continue in a second book. However, the author chose not to do this and consequently the ending seemed quite rushed. I wasn't totally satisfied that all the ends were tied up with everything explained.

I loved the idea of this book but the reality was rather chaotic and didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley

I will be honest. I don't read many dystopian novels. It's not a genre I am overly familiar with but every so often I will dip my toe in the water and when I do I often find it's far less scary than I was expecting. The same can't be said of The Feed. But not in a bad way. Sort of. This is a very good book, very topical, very relevant and very, very bloody scary because of it.

Not scary in an all out gore fest kind of way, more because of the very nature of the novel's structure. The fact that, for a very good portion of the novel you are not quite sure what is happening. What quite happens when they are 'taken'. Our first experience of someone being taken is ... well not really what I was expecting and it did make me question if I trusted the character, Tom at all. Very unusual circumstances to say the least and it had me completely foxed. But all is not as it seems. This is a book which is as much about the journey as the destination and finding out the truth will not make it any easier to stomach.

But it gives me a problem in as much as the fact that while this book is extremely well written, it's also really hard to review. I kind of wonder what I can say that wouldn't constitute spoilers. What I can say is that we are a little way into the future and society exists by way of an automatic feed of information and communication direct to the brain. Old actions, things we take for granted like talking and reading, are no longer part of everyday society. Life is the ultimate in information super highway with a connectivity that cannot easily be severed. Then something happens which threatens this existence and changes everything they know.

Fast forward several years and the remaining inhabitants of earth are living in fear. In fear of being 'taken' in fear of each other. Because they lack the skills we take for granted everything, even talking to each other, growing and preparing food, is that much harder.  This is where it gets really scary as, if we are all honest, this could actually happen. This is an element of advancement and innovation of technology which, if left unchecked, could become a reality. I was only joking the other day about how I never read any of my A' Level english books, I just flicked through the Cliff Notes. The response I got was that now they just get the full synopsis or abridged story on Wikipedia. And how true that is. Each successive generation more and more glued to their computers and less absorbed in the reality of living. Quite an ironic thing to say given the time I am devoting to sitting in front of my laptop typing this review after reading the book on my kindle ...

There is another element to this novel, one which I don't want to discuss too much but that goes some way to explaining how the interruption of the feed comes about. Because at the heart of this story, beyond all the socio-economic and environmental commentary, lies a real mystery. Who broke the 'Feed' and why? And can what is happening be stopped? Do they want it to be.

There are elements of great tension to this book. Moments when you will be slightly confused as to what is happening. Moments when the absolute sadness and emotion that comes from Tom and Kate will tug at the heartstrings. For no matter whether you trust them fully or not, or whether, as the blurb suggests, they trust each other, they are just trying to survive, the best way they know how.

This book floats between character points of view, something which could become confusing but seems to work well here. The voices are distinct enough to separate them as we move from Tom to Kate. Sometimes it is hard to follow their point of view as they know what is happening and you don't, that element of trust which is lacking making them appear as unreliable narrators. The characters they come across on their journey are varied and well fleshed out, their anger, power, manipulation and acceptance all believable. In fact everything about this book seems scarily real.

As I say, this is a very topical book, touching upon subjects which are hot topics right now, ones which may not entirely affect our generation, perhaps not even the next, but has the potential to affect future generations if left unchecked. The author manages to skilfully capture the emotion, fear, anger and mistrust which exists within those left behind, all set against a backdrop of futuristic disintegration in a landscape which is barely recognisable as Britain. Where the fight for survival is everything and although you may not always like or trust the central characters, you do want to see them come good. If you like a dystopian thriller, you are going to love this.

I am a big fan of dystopian books so was excited to read this. Some parts were the exciting story I was hoping for, but the middle dragged a little.

The Story begins with (almost) everyone hooked up to the Feed, and started off strongly. The idea of technology feeding everything anyone ever needs to know or think straight into people’s brains is frightening but not too unrealistic. The characters started off interesting too, but the more you get to know them, the less you care about them.

The middle didn’t keep my attention, possibly due to how little I cared about the characters. However, there is a twist towards the end which caught my attention again and the book picked up to the end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I Read this but took me a while, just didn't really enjoy it, the writing style was ok but I think its just not a novel for me but sure a lot of other people will enjoy it.

This was a book of many parts, some of which I loved and found really fascinating and others that I found a bit disappointing. Unfortunately the ending was one of the disappointing bits for me but overall I enjoyed the experience.

Set in the not too distant future, everyone has 'the Feed' which is essentially what we all have via our mobile phones now only wet wired into their brains so it's all virtual.

Kate and Tom are a couple who have grown up with the Feed and never known a world without it, but they managed to survive the initial shock of having to live independenly. When their child is abducted in this harsh new world, they set out looking for her and uncover the truth behind the destruction of the Feed.

I found some of the concepts to be hit and miss, but that's because I found that I had very set views about how the story should go and was disappointed when it didn't go that way. For this reason, this review is incredibly subjective even by usual review standards because the writing was very compelling and the content very thought-provoking but I still wasn't a huge fan even though I really wanted to be.

If you like dystopian novels, especially those that look at the impact of modern technology on society - give this a go and hopefully you won't be as pig-headed a reader as I am!

What a perfect book to finish on the first day of 2018. The Feed is the ultimate dystopian novel, so close to the present that we automatically draw parallels with our own lives. So glued to our smartphones, constantly being fed data and information and adverts. If you liked this, you'll love this! This constant, immediate access to information, shaping the way we view the world.

The Feed is a step further - that access to information embedded in our brains. Fed directly to us without delay. Multi-tasking, simultaneously looking up answers and surfing social media and getting the stats for your own body. What a time to be alive! But with everything going on inside our heads, what would we need the real world for?

The characters are fully fleshed out, enthralling, human. Their thoughts and feelings and motivations are realistic, familiar. I want to keep this review spoiler free, so I won't go into too much detail. But the writing is tight, perfect. When Kate is consuming information through The Feed, the author feeds the reader the information at the same pace, fast, desperate, instant. My Fitbit told me that my heart rate picked up as I was reading the first quarter of the book. Ah, technology.

Dystopian fiction is one of my favourite genres because it (usually) examines key issues that are current in the world today. It also dissects humanity, how we interact, how we view the world, holding up an unforgiving mirror. Go into any restaurant or cafe, and you'll find several people grouped together, hunched over the tables, scrolling through their phones. It's a common sight to see, an act that doesn't even feel that rude any more. We're getting better at feeding ourselves information while holding conversations in the real world. The two, especially with AR and VR, are linked, working together.

The Feed raises multiple issues that are prevalent in our society - How ethical is it to give everyone access to such technology? How secure is our data? What would happen if it was hacked? How would we cope if it all suddenly went down? What negative side effects might come from it? And so on. Questions we probably can't answer yet, at least not fully.

Reading The Feed is like reading a Black Mirror script. It's close enough to feel real, personal, while dystopian enough for us to feel safe in the knowledge that it is fiction. Isn't it?

Scheduled to appear on Mrsredsreviews.com closer to publication. The Feed begins in a not too distant future where the internet, social media and the rest of the world are only milliseconds away to anyone who has been enabled. Tom and Kate help us see an advanced and fast paced world we could easily imagine around the corner. One day it collapses, and everyone has to find a way to live without the technology that had become a fundamental part of everyday life.

Nick Clark Windo has thoroughly considered how technology can help and hinder the population. He has built up an intricate world of the future, and bought it crashing down. The characters really come alive after society breaks down. I felt for Tom, trying to keep it together for his family, and holding onto hope when most would have given up. Kate, his wife, keeps them grounded, with obvious concerns for the future. The other characters they meet along the way give a good mix of love, loyalty, and deception.

At times the book seems to be a judgement on society now, and where we may take it in the future. Comments about being asleep with eyes open, communicating in complete silence and adding a skin to determine what others see of a person felt like the criticisms from an older generation. Don't be put off by this, it is counteracted by a tragic reminder that alternatives may be similarly objectionable.

The Feed has everything you would wish for from a classic dystopian novel. Major infrastructure fails, the basic rules change, and different fears emerge. Kate and Tom are forced to find a new normal amongst the chaos, and keep fighting for their family's survival.

If you like Black Mirror and The Walking Dead, this felt like a good mix of the two, and would easily translate to a TV series.

When I first started to read the book I wasn't sure what tobthink - so much seemed to be borrowed from books like Station Eleven or tv series like The Matrix, The Event, Revolution etc. However, with just one twist in the storyline it has turned out to be a very enjoyable read.
The Feed is ever-present - it is effectively The Circle taken to a whole new biotechnology level. Humans live through it, with total access to knowledge - a system that with every new development makes it cheaper and more egalitarian. This, however, comes at a cost to the worlds, and eventually the himanity has to pay for it when the world as they know it breaks down in the Collapse.
Six years on we find the two protagonists, who switch perspectives throughout the book, living a dangerous but relatively normal life in the countryside. Not many people are left, there is no energy, and of course the Feed is offline. Through a series of events tragedy strikes and they set out to find their 6-year old daughter, who had been abducted. In the process they learn things about their existing, past and future worlds, which becomes a journey of discovery and coming to terms with life as it is.
This is a very richly depicted world and the book makes you think about the many issues we are faced with today. I thoroughly enjoyed the book once it became apparent where it is heading. Anyone who enjoyed Station Eleven will find this an interesting read.

https://anovelhaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/18/the-feed-by-nick-clark-windo/

I'm exhausting after finishing The Feed. Partly because I've stayed up until late o'clock to finish it, and partly because I feel like I've been through a wringer.

Tom and Kate live in a world where near all humanity is connected to The Feed - an internet hub of sorts, where we talk, share memories and look up anything we ever need to know. What we don't realise is that by doing everything in the cloud, so to speak, we're not storing anything properly in our grey matter.

So when there's an assassination, humanity freaks out and the feed collapses, the world is left in a precarious state. Many men and women are reduced to mere animals, so unused to talking or thinking for themselves. People lack the basic knowledge to keep the old wheels turning.

More terrifying, it turns out that the assassination that appeared to start it all was caused by an 'invader' - someone taking over the brain of someone else. It becomes imperative to watch others as they sleep, to kill them if they show any signs of becoming 'taken'.

Tom and Kate have survived in this world, have even brought a daughter into it. Tom has to hide who he really is, because his father created and ran The Feed, and he likely has many enemies. They live on a small homestead with a few others, struggling to find resources and survive.

Then their daughter Bea, is kidnapped and Tom and Kate dash from safety, willing to do anything to save her.

But what happens if they get injured? What if they need help from the Taken? What if they find out what the Taken are really there for?

There are times when I think the book is in danger of losing readers - there's a lot of journeying, and the way it skips from point of view to point of view (or time to time) can be confusing - but there was a lot here for me to enjoy.

It's the questions above that make things interesting. Once the answers start seeping through into the text (and I can't address any of them here because that way lies spoilers), it becomes a race to get to the end of the book and discover exactly why all this is happening and whether Tom and Kate's family will survive, and in what form?

I have a great fondness for post-apocalyptic books and read this pretty much in one sitting. My biases may be on display here.

I loved this literary dystopian/SF novel set in a future after the collapse of "The Feed", an invention which beamed everything we'd do on a phone or computer directly into people's brains. Lost without it, the characters of the novel have to adjust to a totally new reality in which they are largely helpless. There's an amazing twist in the middle which I didn't see coming at all - the author did an amazing job of keeping this under wraps. My only small criticism would be that I didn't care much about any of the characters, including Sylene; however, the story was so interesting that I didn't care much about that. I'm sure this book will be huge and I look forward to discussing it with others when it;s out!

I really enjoyed this book. Excellent storyline and great main characters. I would recommend this book.

An excellent post-apocalyptic novel - fast-paced and furious, it also offers an engaging critique on technology and our fears about its effects.

The Feed is a scarily realistic, post-apocalyptic debut novel. We live in a world dominated by social media and the Internet. The first thing I always do every morning is check my phone, Facebook and Twitter and I am sure I am not alone in doing that. Once we become addicted to social media it becomes very hard to break. This is the same with The Feed in Nick Clark Windo’s debut. People are wholly dependent on it and without it society would collapse.

Tom and Kate are Feed sceptics. Unlike the majority of their fellow human beings, they prefer to switch off their Feed and live in the real world, but even they begin to find this difficult. During the opening pages, catastrophe strikes when President Taylor is assassinated and the Feed itself goes down. The Feed provided everything for everyone, even the ability to communicate with each other without having to speak and now they must learn to cope without it in order to survive in a dangerous new world.

The Feed isn’t the type of book I usually read, but I had seen a lot of people talking about it on social media and I was intrigued, I was thrilled when my wish was granted by Netgalley. The author has created a world where trust plays a huge role in people’s lives. In this new world our characters find themselves in, people can be taken, where an outsider invades their mind. Trust is a strong theme that plays throughout the book.

Tom and Kate kept me engaged throughout the book. When their six year old daughter, Bea goes missing, they leave their camp and take a dangerous road to try and find her. The pace rockets as they race to find her. Tom and Kate’s grief at losing their daughter was totally believable and I was desperate for them to find her.

Nick’s writing is highly addictive and will keep you turning the pages. The Feed is an outstanding debut which I highly recommend; I predict that it will be huge in 2018. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy to read.

I loved the concept of this novel and am so grateful that my request was accepted. However unfortunately I found this is a slow and disappointing read.

The first chapter opens with a couple having dinner in a restaurant. We get a glimpse of this alternative world where people have the feed enabled in their brains so they can access the internet with their minds, and you don't need to talk. It's a world of instant access. After the President is assassinated the Feed goes down.
Cut six years later and the couple now have a daughter, Bea, and live in a rundown building with a couple of other survivors, trying to get by. Without the feed they must learn to read and write and be 'in the moment'. Their world isn't easily accessible and they must learn to adapt to survive. Matters are complicated by the fact that when you sleep you can be 'taken' (which makes you kill for no reason and it all started with the president's assassination), and if you get taken then you must be killed in case you contaminate others.

I liked the world Windo has created and found it plausible. I thought it was a clever idea, very original and fresh. However the problem for me was that I felt it was lacking plotwise. Finally when Bea does go missing it does plunges the couple into action, yet for me personally, that's when it became another typical dystopian adventure story and one that I felt lacked conflict. I couldn't connect with the characters, and overall this just wasn't for me.