Feed follows the story of Titus. He is your typical teenage boy with his typical teenage friends. If you consider typical being set sometime in the far distant future where babies have the "FeedNet" implanted into their brians so that they can uplink to our version of the internet, children are created in a lab with the specific features that they requested, they can travel to other planets and moons, the idea of privacy has completely gone away, pop-up ads appear before your eyes and where the Earth is on the verge of death. While on spring break to the moon, Titus and his friends meet a girl named Violet. They all decide that rather than getting drunk or going into "mal" (allowing malfunctions to occur to simulate the effects of drugs), they go to a party, where a man simply touches them and they all go blank. It shuts down their Feed temporarily. Many of the teens cannot copy with it and find it extremely hard to live without it. However, it is revealed that most people can even read because there is no need. Violet is one of the rare few because her father was a professor and though that the Feed lead to the degredation of society. While Titus and Violet date, we learn several different things. That you can instantly chat a person or send them an e-mail no matter where you are through the Feed. We also find out that School is now privatized and that children don't actually get any sort of education because everything to know is available through the Feed. Air is no longer made naturally but manufactured as well as Clouds. The water is so polluted that no one can be allowed in it anymore. There are tons of riots and wars occuring all around the world. Random skin leisons also appear on the humans. The book does not detail the cause or if they can heal. Over the course of their relationship, Violet and Titus have differing opinions on the consumerism overtaking their culture. Titus is fine with it, while Violet is not. But that's not the only problem, Violet's Feed is starting to malfunction. Not just cause her not to access the Feed, but also not move certain parts of her body. As time progresses, not only does Violet's body deteriorate, but also her relationship with Titus. He begins to distance himself from her by deleting the memories she sent him, not responding and turning down her advances. Violet is also struggling with her Feed repairs. It is not cheap and unfortunately, because she is not a valued customers, the large corporations do not feel as though she is important enough to help. Near the end of the book, we see that Violet is near death and will not survive much longer. Along with her, the rest of the world is also going down. People are also starting to experience limb failure, increasing lesions and more natural disasters.
The concpet of the book is an excellent and scary thought. Not only does it force people to think about their future consequences and how much we can use technology to hurt as well as "help" but also how far people are willing to go to be apart of the popular culture. It's a grim look at how what we do today can really effect and change tomorrow, which makes it extremely educational in some aspects. I do also find it extremely saddening to see how education is not considered relevent anymore. Many of the students do not even know how to read, let alone have an original thought. And Violet, one girl who does like to think freely rather than blend into the crowd is considered an outcast and fairly weird among her peers. It's a sad realization to know that she is one of the few who think that corporations have too much control. It's also a little disturbing to see how far people will go in order to fit in. They are willing to purchase mountains and mountains of clothing that they will wear for only one week then discard them or how they will intentionally get lesions because it's considered to be "cool." I shared the view point of Violet, that just because something is considered to be popular doesn't mean that everyone should do it, especially if they are causing harm to themselves. I really found the concept of the book to be very though-provoking and almost in a sense forewarning. However, there were some aspect of the book that I did not enjoy. While the language may have been something that a typical teenage would say, their sentences were no more developed than that of an 8 year old. Using the word "like" in every other sentence or improper grammer. I know that the language was specifically choosen in order to demonstrate the lack of education, however, it can be tiresome to read. Also, the main character seemed to be extremely static throughout the course of the book. It wasn't until the very end that he showed any bit of emotion or concern. He appeared to be very self-absorbed in what was happening in his world or only to him, not in the world around him or to others. He is callous towards Violet even when she is the process of shutting down because she is bold enough to say exactly what she means. Although the story was extremely intriguing and sad in many ways, I did find parts of it iritating, mostly with the mindset and development of the characters. It's a very good book to help consider future dilemmas, however, not to ready for enjoyment.
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