The Feeding by Anthony Ryan Pub Date Aug. 26, 2025

After the Feeders came and wiped out much of humanity, the remaining humans scattered gathering into small settlements dedicated to keeping humanity going and the Feeders out. In order to do this though elite groups of humans, Crossers train to make the dangerous trek across The Outside, where Feeders roam freely and recently seem to have evolved to become twice as dangerous as they were before, with Crossers rarely returning with the life sustaining supplies they need. Supplies like antibiotics, Layla, a young woman living in New City, Redoubt finds herself in an impossible situation because of these smarter, more dangerous. Feeders have ensured that there have been no successful Crossings recently. Her father desperately needs medicine and New City desperately needs more Crossers, terrified but determined Layla passed the tests to become a Crosser, setting out with a group of six, having no way of knowing that she'll stumble across secrets that will have far reaching consequences for humans and Feeders alike. 

Full disclosure I am a bit biased when it comes to Ryan's work so when I saw he was doing not just a vamp book but a full-on dystopian vamp book to boot I *had* to read it. And I'll be honest, I was just the tiniest bit skeptical. This is so far from his usual work that I was a little afraid it would fall flat. Just a tiny bit. Luckily, I had no reason to worry because this was an absolutely amazing story. Remember that movie with Denzel Washington, and you spend the whole movie thinking he's carrying something super important only to find out it was just the freaking bible at the end? Yeah, well, this is like that except with life-saving medications, and in the wake of Luigi Mangione that smacks incredibly hard of reality. Hell, in the wake of my own recent issues with getting medication, or the absolute fear that our current administration will cut my parent's Medicare and they won't be able to afford the medications that are keeping them alive. Every character in this book has a mantra, and that mantra is a medication. Ones we take for granted every single day. Hell ones we overuse every single day and yet ones that are so incredibly vital for life. Layla's father simply needs amoxicillin. Can you all imagine actually having to risk your life for some amoxicillin!? I've got at least one bottle lying around my house right now. By using incredibly common drugs, it becomes pretty obvious that we take far too much for granted. 

The characters were, of course, great, but honestly, I loved Layla. She is amazing, her character growth is so well done, it just feels so natural, she goes from this very cranky, chip on her shoulder, she doesn't *need* anybody to someone who realizes that she absolutely does over the course of her groups trek across The Outside. And sure yes anyone going through what she went through would probably grow a bit (or lose their mind) but it's the way she does that I enjoyed, there's no sudden realization or anything she just opens up as she realizes the people with her are, well, people. She's also incredibly clever, quick to make a decision, and sticks with it when she does. All absolutely necessary traits in a book like this. 

Pacing was, of course, top tier as well, but it's the world building here that really got me. I will preface this with maybe I missed some hint somewhere, but honestly, even if I did, I don't care because this could have been set anywhere in the world. All of the descriptions of things were incredibly vague. Here's a river. Here's a municipal building, and here's a power company. I genuinely can't remember one description that made me think "Oh that's definitely this specific city." And maybe he did like I said, and I missed it, but it genuinely gives you the sense that this could be your own backyard some day, and that was incredibly nice touch. 

I am so looking forward to book two, especially with that ending. Plus, the fact that this was a really quick read that packed just as much of a punch as longer dystopian vamp books, this is definitely a new favorite!

Thanks to Anthony Ryan and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC!