The One We Feed

The One We Feed by Kristina Meister is a chilling story that will keep you awake at night. Lilith is an immortal working with mortal cops to go after the Sangha. While on a stakeout, she sees a group of Sangha members with a captive, a little girl. As Lilith rushes to the girl’s rescue, she discovers that the child is something else – something beyond imagining. The question for Lilith then becomes, who in that tableau needed saving?
Gritty dialogue and graphic descriptions take you into a netherworld of the undead and the soon to be dead. You’ll smell the blood and sweat and hear the rapid panic-inspired beating of hearts. Meister is aptly names, for she is a meister of the genre. A writer who is destined to take her place in the show more galaxy of horror fiction stars.
When you open the pages of The One We Feed make sure your seat belt is fastened because you’re in for one hell of a wild ride. show less

While I enjoyed the humor, the geekery and the actual writing, and I really do think it presents a thought provoking philosophy, I was generally disappointed in this book. The reason for this actually started in book one, with the too perfect heroine. It only gets worse here. Essentially, Lilith is indestructible and she knows it. So, there is no challenge to her from anyone, which means no challenge to the reader. This whole book is her wandering around making witty quips, teasing Jinx (who I adore), and almost lazily figuring a thing or two out. Oh sure, there are some fight scenes, but she’s faster, stronger, smarter, more invisible, more skilled, etc than any of her opponents, so the result is a foregone conclusion and comes far show more too quickly. It’s dull, no matter how much action is happening.

The book also falls into what I consider a tempting trap when dealing with immortality. All of a sudden, almost everyone Lilith meets is a famous historical character. All the billions of people who have lived throughout history and the immortals happen to be ones we’d have heard of?

The book is worth reading to engage the Buddhist (and such) arguments, but it doesn’t have quite the flare and appeal as the first book, in my opinion. show less

Second in Kristina Meister's The Apocalyptic Series, the book contains enough references to the events of Craving to give me a sense of the flow of things without spoiling either book for me (other than giving away Craving's ending). The dialogue is tight and realistic, the story telling great! There are long passages of deeply philosophical thought which anyone looking for a light read can safely skim, yet for me these were some of the best hmmm-ers of the book. It delights by going in unexpected directions which are perfectly clear in hindsight IF you didn't skip the long philosophical passages.

A thoroughly delightful read which may not be to everybody's tastes. Highly recommended for those who don't mind deep thought with their show more horror action tales.

I'm reviewing an ARC of the ePub edition. show less

The One we Feed is the second book in Kristina Meister's The Apocalyptic Series following the adventures of Lilith Pierce as she continues to deal with her sister’s suicide and the changes that have happened to her since. The series involves Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian folklore as well as pop culture references and geek speak. It picks up where the first book, Craving, left off, with no back story or explanation. I would recommend that readers start with the first book if they wish to understand the story. Lilith is still struggling with the transformation she underwent in the first book. She goes through much angst and soul searching which could have been tedious if it weren't for the wry humour of her narration. I found myself show more laughing aloud at some of her commentary. All of the old characters , as well as new villains and allies are fully described and interesting. As in the first book, some of the author's premises require a major suspension of disbelief, and some of the characters' motivations remain unclear. This novel has more violence and gruesome monsters than the first volume in the series. As in the first book there is some objectionable language which may offend some readers. I recommend this book for readers of urban fantasy who enjoy elements of philosophy, history and religion in their fantasy. show less

This is the second book in Kristina Meister's The Apocalyptic Series which follows Lilith Pierce. She is dealing with major life changes as well as changes to her very perception of reality. A deft mixture of world religion, myth, folklore, technology, and strong characters are all well employed in this book. Like many reviewers, I too had not read the first book in the series. Within a few chapters, however, one is able to grasp enough of the plot and flow of the series that this no longer presents a challenge. That is a credit to the author for mapping out her story arc and following a narrative. The story pulls many ideas and themes from recent best-selling modern fantasy novels such as, dare I say, Twilight. It fortunately exceeds show more that series by clever use of modern vocabulary, character development, and better writing. The story is interesting enough and a reviewer reading this book would be inclined to go back to read the first of the series if they had not to understand the story's development. That is perhaps the biggest compliment I could bestow on the book. It is a decent piece of work with enough quality writing to make people who are not fans of the genre want to read the books to better understand the well designed story. That in mind, despite the use of modern language and references, pop culture, technology, etc., it is immediately limiting its appeal to audiences in a few years at most. The wry nature of nearly every character in the book is a symbol of the times, where every character in popular media has to be too cool, sarcastic, and unshakable by even the biggest of events. This does make the book topical in many regards but also can cause a level of detachment on the part of the reader as even in a book filled with immortals, psychics, invisibility, and other fantasy elements, it detracts from the believable nature of the characters as people. The main character in particular suffers from perhaps too much favoritism on the part of the author. Her invulnerability and ability to overcame everything but the one plot point that set her story in motion is repetitive and somewhat off-putting. Meister creates a colorful world and interesting supporting characters which do make the story have appeal but it feels like she projects too much into the main character which is jarring at time. This book is interesting enough and the writer is skilled. The book draws the reader in enough to encourage interest in future and previous works. The writing is defined by the period it was written and that will make it limited in its appeal to those not versed in the references and language. The main character lacks enough conflict, both inner and outer to carry the story with strong long-arc plot points and sub-characters. Overall positive review but some kinks to work out. show less

I’m feeling a little mixed on this one. Frankly, any book that uses the phrase ‘O.M.G.’ within the first twenty pages in a non-ironic manner and by a character who has aged well outside of high school is not worth my time, but I found this plot pretty gripping. The world set-up is really vivid and caught my attention from the first page.

What I didn’t like? The characters. The point-of-view character was extremely mercurial, and her whiplash moods ranged from weeping hysteria to homicidal rage (with homicide) within a matter of pages. It became irritating very quickly. I didn’t appreciate that she seems poised to enter romantic relationships with three separate men; I have come to abhor the love triangle (pyramid?) story arc show more presently so popular in urban fantasy, and it’s gone beyond making me eyeroll when I find it in a book – it makes me stop reading. The characters all speak in remarkably crude language, which bored me to the extent I began skipping large swaths of it. I usually require some sort of character hook to invest myself in a story, and I never found that here.

Meister reads as a capable author. I just never really meshed with her writing style, not in this book at least. The one passage that genuinely snagged at my interest was brief, wildly out of tone with the rest of book, and in the voice of a deceased character:

Quote moved to a different site to better accommodate HTML formatting.

You know, this rather reads like a Laurell K. Hamilton book, but without the sex. Three stars. show less

Book Info: Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy/Metaphysical Thriller
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Those to whom it calls, those interested in something more, deeper
Trigger Warnings: fighting, violence, killing, suicide

My Thoughts: The books in the Apocalyptic Series are a strange beast. Mixing action with metaphysics, Buddhism, and a completely open way of looking at the world, we experience the evolution of Lilith from what she was toward what she could be. She's a great character, but I liked all the characters in this book. Jinx is, as in the first book, a complete delight; Arthur is cryptic, and Ananda is... Ananda. We meet Devlin (and I was so psyched when I found out who he originally was! I figured it out before Lilith, but in her show more defense it was one of my favorite topics so I caught the hints she did not) and Mara, and find out that everything is not always as it seems.

There is still so much to explore in this universe. I do not know when/if there will be another book in this series, but I know I'll be watching for it, because this is just the sort of mind-twisting that I find most irresistible. If you're looking for deeper meaning, if you enjoy reading things that will twist your brain and make you think, if you are interested in metaphysical ideas of time and space, definitely check out this amazing series.

Series Information: The Apocalyptic Series
Book 1: Craving, review linked here
Book 2: The One We Feed

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from JournalStone through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: After the bizarre suicide of her sister, Lilith Pierce discovered that the world was full of dangers and villains she could not have imagined, and that the history of human civilization was far from complete. Now, gifted with tremendous powers she barely understands, Lilith is determined to stop whatever plots and schemes her immortal cousins, the Sangha, can hatch. When a simple reconnaissance mission ends in tragedy; however, Lilith’s entire focus changes.

Attempting to save a child she's never met from a fate worse than death will require every ounce of Lilith’s strength, forge new and treacherous alliances, and possibly change the world forever. Suddenly all eyes are on her, and the destiny of the human race is on her shoulders.

A thrill ride with soul for a new generation of thinkers! show less