Wow, this book made me feel old. Most days I don't think I feel any older than I did when I was a teenager (mentally, at least, physically is an entirely different story), and then I read this book from the point of view of an immature nineteen-year-old social media influencer, and whoo boy – I feel like I could be Kylie's great-great-great grandmother. I mean, I'm sure there are much more hip forty-somethings out there, especially when it comes to social media (I have Goodreads and a Facebook account that I avoid using as much as possible and that's about it), but sweet baby kittens on a cracker, I am definitely not nineteen anymore.

But, anyway, this book. I loved the first … two-thirds of it? Maybe even the first three-quarters? MonoLife is creepy and the people who use it are creepy, and it's unsettling to watch Kylie get deeper and deeper into it despite all of the (big, huge, obvious) red flags. There's not a single likeable character to be found – everyone is selfish and image-obsessed and they're generally just awful people – but somehow it's still almost unputdownable? It's like a slow-motion train wreck and you can't wait to see what Kylie does next in her quest to gain followers, even though you know it's going to be something terrible.

The last third (quarter?) of the book, however, has a totally different feel than the rest of it. Things go completely off the rails and there's a lot of gore and the characters get even more awful. Some of it is kind of fever-dream-y and there are psychopaths doing psychopath things, and I just don't even know what to make of most of it. Gore isn't usually my thing and while I would have preferred that the story hadn't morphed into a blood-soaked, ego-fueled slasher story at the end, I suppose it was entertaining enough.

As far as trigger warnings go, well, there's a lot of them because this is a horror novel. But do be aware that there's some animal cruelty and death. A dog dies in a rather horrible manner, and then it's mentioned repeatedly throughout the book and the pup doesn't exactly get a peaceful eternal slumber. 😫 There's also a very brief mention of some kitten-related violence, but there are no details and you don't actually “see” it happen.

My overall rating: 3.67 stars, rounded up. Feeders is disturbing and weird and certainly not for the squeamish, but the premise is unique and I loved its foray into the dark side of social media. If you can handle violence and gore and self-absorbed teenagers behaving (very, very, very) badly, it's definitely worth a read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is May 20, 2025.

I did not complete this novel, as it was not able to keep my attention. I will admit I chose it because I was drawn to the cover and after reading the description I thought I would give it a try. While it is geared towards a young adult reader I still could not get into it. It was written not that long ago, but all the social media aspects felt dated. As someone not interested in influencers or what it takes to become one, I just couldn't connect to the characters as they were introduced.

What it comes down to is simply this book is not for me, as I don't think I am the intended audience. The writing itself is fine, I didn't make it to the "horror" parts so I also can't speak to how scary or gross this becomes.

This book was an absolutely wild ride and I loved it!!! I am here for all the unhinged horror. This book made me question everything! Was this an unreliable narrator or something else? I honestly felt I was even losing my grip on reality! I love the social media horror genre since it is so relevant, and horror is based on what could happen today. I will definitely be looking for more work by this author! Definitely check your trigger warnings as the last 1/4 of the book was an amazing ride of horror and gore.

I would like to take a moment to thank the publisher and NetGalley for this chance to read this novel early. I found that feeders is VERY VERY scary and the way we use technology and social media now this book hits hard to know this kind of thing could actually happen. I will not get into any spoilers but this was a nail biter the whole read through. I loved it and also terrified of it at the same time. Looking forward to more from Mr Serafini!

I can’t tell what this book wanted to be.

commentary on society's desensitization violence and the need for constant disgusting and vile videos? a commentary on social media and influencers? Maybe both? I thought there would be some discovery about the app, but maybe if we had been in the head of another character. one who didn't crave and need the constant attention that comes with being online.

kylie did NOT care. She wanted that lifestyle badly, and when she got it, she didn't care about looking any deeper. She’s insane and desperate. her obsession with katy perry should have been the first sign this girl was not mentally well. (sorry to all kitty kats or whatever y'all are called).

Overall - this was good. not bad but not the greatest. The writing was a little flat in area's but in general it wasn't bad. The story was enough to hold me till I reached the end. I’m not sure how I feel?? because it felt like another plot change without any lead up. so many plot holes. excessive violence and gore (and animal death!!) so please check trigger warnings before diving in.

I was really intrigued by the blurb and drawn to the extremely cool cover. I knew this was about social media influencers going in, but yet I still somehow thought I would be able to read it - despite my innate inability to understand this portion of the world - but I very quickly found these self-absorbed princess girls so irritating that I could not get past their self-obsession enough to even continue reading. I am NOT the right audience for this book - I felt like I was 400 years old while reading it, because it was utterly unrelatable for me... This is totally a case of wrong book, wrong reader!

* I hate having to leave stars on a book that was so obviously a wrong fit because it means I'm not in any position to actually evaluate it, so I'm going with a middle of the road three because the platform forces a rating.

This book was not for me. I love horror and thrillers. But this seemed like it was written more for shock value. It was also a little all over the place for me.

This book was not quite what I was expecting but it wasn't bad. While the characters felt flat the plot creeped me out and kept me intrigued throughout the book. This was a fresh take on social media/app horror so definitely pick it up if you're into that!

There have been a few books that have dived into social media horror but Feeders takes it to a level that is truly nightmarish. The way that Serafini slowly ups the ante and what our main character Kylie is willing to do to impress followers is so grimly logical and horrifying that when we start to get to the real consequences that this app creates, it is all to realistic to think of how many people would be entangled by its web. Horrifying, with some truly unsettling scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC of Feeders.

This was easily the weirdest book I've read all year and I LOVE weird, but this just didn't hit the mark. I was really hoping for a solid horror story but this ended up just being 90% gratuitous gore for shock value and 10% creepy details that actually benefited the storyline. Probably the scariest part of the book was how old AF reading from the viewpoint of a 19 year old social media obsessed teen made me feel 😅 I need to go wash my brain now.

2.5 stars rounded up

Reading FEEDERS is the figurative equivalent of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, or of riding an out-of-control bullet train racing toward derailment! Unstoppable race toward destruction as we witness a young life falling apart and scrabbling desperately to hang on. The entirety of the novel I pondered whether events were actually occurring, whether there was some kind of outre input [mind control? Hypnotic manipulation? Supernatural interference? A government covert experiment--shades of FIRESTARTER?] Or was our unreliable, often unlikable, and only rarely eliciting-of-empathy, protagonist, actually experiencing psychic decompensation [breakdown of both the mind and the soul]? Author Matt Serafini does an efficient job of making both protagonist and reader truly fear "losing one's mind and grasp of (what-really-is?) reality."

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This didn't land for me, the characters felt flat and repetitive, and while the premise needed certain lingo to work (influencer/online) it just didn't keep me invested.

This was different and not exactly what I was expecting. Kinda thought it was a metaphor for emotional vampires. Overall a fun read.