Feeders by Matt Serafini is pretty wild. It is violent and disturbing horror that is focused on a social media app named "MonoLife" that encourages depravity among its users. We get our share of twists, turns and gore. It also feels a bit like a commentary on society's desensitization to extreme violence, and on social media influencer culture, including the problematic themes that can come from this lifestyle. Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC. You can give this a read when it publishes May 20, 2025

Thank you to Gallery for the gifted ARC!

Feeders was one of my most anticipated horror reads of 2025, and it fell completely flat. I am a millennial, and I don’t even talk like the Gen Zers in this book. It was not something I enjoyed coming back to after I set it down, I’m sorry.

Many thanks to Netgallery and Gallery books for this book.

This was creepy!! I went into reading this not expecting to get as creeped out as I did but here I am. The plot was enough to keep me turning pages long into the night. I recommend!

_Feeders_ by Matt Serafini is a violent and disturbing horror read centered on a mysterious social media app that encourages the depravity of its users. Kylie Bennington dreams of becoming an influencer when she clicks on a leaked video of the murder of a former classmate. She decides to investigate the murder, and learns of the secretive app MonoLife. As Kylie finally discovers content she excels at, she also learns how far she’ll go to achieve greatness. Filled with unlikeable characters that you can’t help but keep following, this book delves into the darkness of social media and our unending quest for approval.

Damn. This one was a bummer.
It was too all over the place and read like YA.
I wanted to like it because hello Mixed-Media format is like my fave, but I just couldn't get into it.
DNF

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

This was a unique premise and I enjoyed the authors writing! However the social media aspect felt a little outdated, and the characters seemed younger than college. I was bummed out by the plot holes because I felt like this could have been such a great novel otherwise!

I only read half of this book. The characters were unbearable (that’s the point) and maybe I’m too old to really get this whole influencer situation. Just not my cup of tea.

This was a frustratingly fun read. I didn't like the characters (but you're not really supposed to), and I had such a good time. A wild ride that was supremely gory. An adult man writing teenage scenarios was a bit much for me, but I still enjoyed it.

I really hated this book, it felt like it was trying to be American Psycho but the plot just made no sense at all. It was impossible to track the protagonists's motives

As someone who works in influencer marketing and has had some small success as an influencer herself, I was extremely excited to come across a horror so centered around the sinister heart of the desire for fame, around the insidious nature of social media. I think I, from my position, am extremely quick to critique speculative fiction surrounding social media, perhaps due in part to how genuinely abhorrent the topic can be before the speculation.

Did the book feel authentic to the experience of being Gen Z? No. But I am nearly a decade older than the protagonist which may have had something to do with that. Overall the book was good, not great. It held my attention and was quick to read.

If you like Black Mirror, do yourself a favor and pick this up.

This would make a fun movie.

I mean...I didn't like the characters, but I don't really think you're supposed to.

It's definitely extra. The characters get more and more out there and some of what happens kind of defies belief. At least I hope people wouldn't go to such extents.

Definitely some biting character on influence culture and a story that moves in fast and violent way.

Good read.

This book was wild and extremely gory! If a teenage girl was Patrick Bateman, she’d be this novel’s protagonist. Social media, ‘influencer culture’, violence, conspiracy theories, jealousy, surveillance, and growing pains are the themes explored, albeit in extreme ways. If you enjoyed the themes and presentation of the film ‘The Substance’, you’ll love this!

Thank you to NetGalley, Matt Serafini, and Simon and Schuster for this ARC.

Wow, what a ride! How far would you go for internet fame? Would you break the law? Would you even kill for it? Kylie is jealous of her bestie Erin, who has amassed a huge Instagram following as an influencer. Kylie can barely manage 50 likes. So when they see a shocking video of their classmates, they track down an app called MonoLife, which sends Kylie down a rabbithole of depravity and no return.

This book had me on the hook the whole time. It was disgusting, horrific, and hard to put down. Almost like MonoLife itself, this story is addictive. I finished this book in three days. And I’m a busy lady. I almost want to read it all over again! The writing style is very clear and concise, it’s very funny in my opinion, and I will be recommending this book to those who can stomach it all year.

The plot of this felt a little too close for comfort with all of the conspiracy groups, "deep state", and dark web nonsense that I read about these days. That said, I found it entertaining!

This book felt too heavy handed in its points about influencer/social media culture, and the fact that a male author was writing a lot of descriptions of teenage women was pretty uncomfortable.

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!