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Review of Deadline by Mira Grant
I just finished book two of the Newsflesh series.
I think this book is better than the first one. I was skeptical to begin with because I liked Georgia so well and didn't know how I'd feel about Shaun as a narrator. Or the story without her in it. But OMG this book was tense and interesting and unexpected.
I didn't think I would like unstable Shaun talking to Georgia in his head all the time, but it ended up being very bittersweet to me. I like how deeply he and everyone else are grieving. I don't like that he's violent, but I can totally buy that he's pretty much been punching everybody in the face because he's angry and lonely. I mean, he and George were pretty much the definition of co-dependent and now he's all alone. At least he thinks he is. I think he has to continually remind himself that he isn't alone, and then it's like the friendship of these wonderful people in his life is this precious gift for the five minutes it takes until the hurt overwhelms him again.
I like the science stuff in this book. I like the concept of the reservoir conditions and where they're going with that. I was horrified that the varying strains of the virus have been engineered and that people with reservoir conditions are essentially being assassinated. Not to mention the horror of cloning people without their permission, trying to kill people who ask reasonable questions, and creating new mosquitoes that can carry the virus. The apparently global scale of this conspiracy is really freaking scary, and I have to admit that I haven't put all the pieces together. I'm trying to figure out who ultimately gains something from continual zombie apocalypse and what that something is. I guess control through fear is the answer but it seems way too high a price to pay for that.
I love Dr. Abbey and her no-nonsense attitude. But I also like that Kelly has some valid points in their debates. You can't just induce reservoir conditions in all the babies because most of them will just amplify into zombies at some point. There are real and valid reasons for some of what Dr. Abbey's doing to be considered dangerous.
Which brings me to the way this book nicely subverted my expectations. See, when Kelly showed up, my immediate thought was that she was going to become Shaun's love interest. Boy was that wrong! LOL And I thought Dr. Wynne was going to be a good guy. But no, Becks is the one Shaun ends up sleeping with and Wynne is awful.
You know, it's hard not to ship Shaun and George. I think you would have to actively try not to while reading these books. When he calls Becks by George's name after they sleep together I thought I would die. And then when he pretty much straight-up tells Maggie that he is in love--all the kinds of love!--with his sister, I died some more. Pretty fan-freaking tastic.
Which works out since HIS SISTER IS NOW A CLONE OMG!
Okay, immense yayness for getting George back. But I have to suspend my disbelief that they can make a clone that has all her memories and personality. I've seen nothing in the books to suggest that level of technology. But I gladly suspend my disbelief because I cannot wait to see Shaun and George reunited.
I think this book is better than the first one. I was skeptical to begin with because I liked Georgia so well and didn't know how I'd feel about Shaun as a narrator. Or the story without her in it. But OMG this book was tense and interesting and unexpected.
I didn't think I would like unstable Shaun talking to Georgia in his head all the time, but it ended up being very bittersweet to me. I like how deeply he and everyone else are grieving. I don't like that he's violent, but I can totally buy that he's pretty much been punching everybody in the face because he's angry and lonely. I mean, he and George were pretty much the definition of co-dependent and now he's all alone. At least he thinks he is. I think he has to continually remind himself that he isn't alone, and then it's like the friendship of these wonderful people in his life is this precious gift for the five minutes it takes until the hurt overwhelms him again.
I like the science stuff in this book. I like the concept of the reservoir conditions and where they're going with that. I was horrified that the varying strains of the virus have been engineered and that people with reservoir conditions are essentially being assassinated. Not to mention the horror of cloning people without their permission, trying to kill people who ask reasonable questions, and creating new mosquitoes that can carry the virus. The apparently global scale of this conspiracy is really freaking scary, and I have to admit that I haven't put all the pieces together. I'm trying to figure out who ultimately gains something from continual zombie apocalypse and what that something is. I guess control through fear is the answer but it seems way too high a price to pay for that.
I love Dr. Abbey and her no-nonsense attitude. But I also like that Kelly has some valid points in their debates. You can't just induce reservoir conditions in all the babies because most of them will just amplify into zombies at some point. There are real and valid reasons for some of what Dr. Abbey's doing to be considered dangerous.
Which brings me to the way this book nicely subverted my expectations. See, when Kelly showed up, my immediate thought was that she was going to become Shaun's love interest. Boy was that wrong! LOL And I thought Dr. Wynne was going to be a good guy. But no, Becks is the one Shaun ends up sleeping with and Wynne is awful.
You know, it's hard not to ship Shaun and George. I think you would have to actively try not to while reading these books. When he calls Becks by George's name after they sleep together I thought I would die. And then when he pretty much straight-up tells Maggie that he is in love--all the kinds of love!--with his sister, I died some more. Pretty fan-freaking tastic.
Which works out since HIS SISTER IS NOW A CLONE OMG!
Okay, immense yayness for getting George back. But I have to suspend my disbelief that they can make a clone that has all her memories and personality. I've seen nothing in the books to suggest that level of technology. But I gladly suspend my disbelief because I cannot wait to see Shaun and George reunited.
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*nods* It's one of those things I hate the thought of trying to describe, spoilers notwithstanding, because it sounds like it should be SO BAD. And yet. (Much like the whole cloning thing, which sounds like it should be dreadful, and is one of my favorite parts of the series for reasons which are not technically spoilery but which I shouldn't go into anyway. I just love what Seanan does with it.)
Here's a terrifying thing: Seanan says all of the science in these books is based to at least some extent on real science--fringe science sometimes, but things that are actively being looked into. O_O
Dr. Wynne is a wretched, horrible person who tells Shaun that Georgia should never have trusted [Shaun] to have her back, and I hate him forever. ;_; I firmly believe Shaun knew it was bullshit, intellectually, but can you imagine? (And oh yeah, all that other horrible stuff. La!)
Oh, poor Becks. I absolutely adore her, and the whole having-sex-with-Shaun thing was so dreadful for both of them. (It's one of the things I've discussed a lot, all in all, because sometimes people read it and really want to blame one of them for Doing Something Wrong. And neither of them did anything wrong! It just sucked, and it hurt them, and they dealt with it like fucking adults who care about and respect each other. *hearts*)
And now I can say that, for all that I love Feed and Deadline intensely, Blackout is my actual favorite because [reasons]. But it's also hard for me to explain it in terms of the overall plot rather than the emotional narrative, because I love the emotional narrative so much that when I try to analyze the politics etc. I literally can't do it very effectively because I get too overwhelmed with love for the emotional stuff.
I love the original Georgia with all my heart, and I hate that she dies, and nothing in the world can change that she died and is dead, and it's horrible. I truly do still miss her. But oh, I love so much about clone!George, and I can't wait for you to read Blackout.
I am so glad you're loving the series. *^^*
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(I ask that, but I think you're quite right about a lack of reading comprehension. *sighs* And I suspect many people don't necessarily stop to think about emotional implications, and Becks is the one who was crying, not Shaun, therefore she...must be the victim somehow? I guess? Because heaven forbid there should be a no-fault messy situation.)
[I am totally rambling due to sleep deprivation. Um.]