Blackout

Blackout by Mira Grant
Newsflesh # 3
Publisher: Orbit
Number of pages: 659
My copy: paperback, ordered from Book Depository

Rise up while you can. – Georgia Mason

The year was 2014. The year we cured cancer. The year we cured the common cold. And the year the dead started to walk. The year of the Rising.

The year was 2039. The world didn’t end when the zombies came, it just got worse. Georgia and Shaun Mason set out on the biggest story of their generation. The uncovered the biggest conspiracy since the Rising and realized that to tell the truth, sacrifices have to be made.

Now, the year is 2041, and the investigation that began with the election of President Ryman is much bigger than anyone had assumed. With too much left to do and not much time left to do it in, the surviving staff of After the End Times must face mad scientists, zombie bears, rogue government agencies-and if there’s one thing they know is true in post-zombie America, it’s this:

Things can always get worse.

* * *

Warning: This may not end up as a review, but a very fan-girly love letter to the trilogy. Also, spoiler free.

So normally I would have written a review for this book as soon as I finished it, but with my record of reviewing books lately, I took my time. In all honesty, I can’t remember parts of the book anymore, but I remember that sad feeling I got when I finally arrived at the end of this amazing trilogy.

So three years ago, I stumbled upon Feed by accident, and I only really wanted the book because I judged it from its cover the moment I saw it. Little did I know that this would spark a love affair between me and the After the End times staff, with Georgia and Shaun Mason and Buffy and Mahir and Becks and Maggie and Alaric and everyone who’s ever been a part of this series. Yes, that includes other fans who I have met and virtually squealed with and liked reading updates and shared speculations with over and over again.

Let me back up a little: for the uninitiated, Blackoutis the third book in the Newsflesh trilogy, where we readers follow the After the End times staff with uncovering a humongous conspiracy that could very well mean the death of human civilization as they know it. With zombies around, it’s easy to imagine how it could end, especially with how Deadline ended. But of course, there’s more going on without the team’s knowledge and when these things finally collided, well…it was pretty explosive. Blackout is one of my most awaited books this year, and I waited a little bit before I actually read it because I just didn’t want it to end yet.

Granted, Blackoutis probably the weakest among the three books. But by weak, I don’t mean that it sucked — it was just not as engaging as Feed or as mind-blowing as Deadline was, but there were still so many feelings that came and went at the reading of this book. But here’s the thing: I love the characters and the series so much already that I can’t not love this book. I can’t not love its finale, for all its faults and awesome things, for all the emotions and fist shaking it brought. I felt like I’ve invested so much in this series that I can’t not love even this book.

Oh and maybe the zombie bears had something to do with it! :)

I have fangirled in this review so I’m afraid this review of this particular book may not be as helpful as the others, but if you feel like picking up the series, then consider this review as my own version of pushing it to you. I am very, very happy that I stumbled upon Feed years ago, because somehow it made me feel like I’m a part of this series ever since its first release. I’m not an expert on the genre, but this is definitely one of the best zombie books I’ve read in a while. It is with a sad heart that I said goodbye to all these characters, and I will miss them all terribly…but I’m pretty happy with how this ended.

We started as a news site. Somewhere along the line, we became a family.

 

Rise up while you can.

Rating: [rating=5]

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers
The Midnight Garden
reading is the ultimate aphrodisiac