spookshow's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this series. It lost me a bit it Symbiont, but grabbed me again in Chimera. It didn't end with "the world was saved and the horrors were just a distant memory" and I like that. I like that there could still be a story. I liked Sal as a character, and the way she grew into herself (pun unintended). Overall I enjoyed this, I really did.
araleith's review
2.0
This was confusing and all over the place and the ending felt too neat and tidy and too convenient. Stick with Newsflesh, if you want to read Mira Grant stuff.
fictionaladventures's review
4.0
The first book was still the best by far, but none of the books in the series were BAD. They were all really good, in fact. But my favorite character was Nathan and I felt like he wasn’t in enough of books 2 and 3 for me.
Spoiler
Though I’m very thankful he was never killed off or anything! And I love that he and Sal are married in the end.anammox's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mugsandpugs's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. As much as I like Mira/Seanan's writing, this series just didn't work for me. I like the topics at hand: science! Parasites! Ooey gooey biology! People falling in romantic/sexual love with parasites! Sounds like a dream come true.
But I didn't care for this series. It felt flat, somehow. The characters weren't interesting.
Until NOW, anyway! Sal really stepped it up in this book, facing problem after problem and coming up with badass solutions. I was with her all the way, and I found the ending completely, surprisingly, satisfying.
melbsreads's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Trigger warnings: body horror, violence, gore, kidnapping, death of a sibling
Sigh. I maintain that this series did NOT need to be a trilogy. Don't get me wrong, it was a satisfying conclusion to the series and I'm glad I read it through to the end. But at the same time, I definitely don't think this series needed to be FIFTEEN HUNDRED PAGES of human-tapeworm weirdness.
Look, this was pretty full of action and it definitely kept me guessing as far as how things were going to play out. But at the same time, reading this was just sort of an exhausting experience because it was long and I'd run out of care factor at least 250 pages before this book started...
Sigh. I maintain that this series did NOT need to be a trilogy. Don't get me wrong, it was a satisfying conclusion to the series and I'm glad I read it through to the end. But at the same time, I definitely don't think this series needed to be FIFTEEN HUNDRED PAGES of human-tapeworm weirdness.
Look, this was pretty full of action and it definitely kept me guessing as far as how things were going to play out. But at the same time, reading this was just sort of an exhausting experience because it was long and I'd run out of care factor at least 250 pages before this book started...
alexiachantel's review
4.0
The Parasitology series is quite the medical-induced ride! Grant gives us a great ending to Sal's saga and an even better read for Spook-tober!
Sal shows her backbone in Chimera! She's been pushed around, by many, and used, by many, and now she's making decisions and accepting the outcomes. It's beautiful! There really isn't much I can say as this is the end of a very thick-tomed series, but if you're in the mood for some zombie horror along side medical sci-fi—then look no further!
Sal shows her backbone in Chimera! She's been pushed around, by many, and used, by many, and now she's making decisions and accepting the outcomes. It's beautiful! There really isn't much I can say as this is the end of a very thick-tomed series, but if you're in the mood for some zombie horror along side medical sci-fi—then look no further!
kalah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
kimberlea's review against another edition
5.0
Chimera was an excellent ending to the incredibly gross Parasitology trilogy (seriously – I couldn’t help but think about what it’d be like to have a tapeworm hanging around in my intestines, and the thought made me gag a little). One of the things that has made me love this series so much is Grant’s ability to blur the line between human and tapeworm – the tapeworms are not presented as the “bad guys,” as such – at least not uniformly. Both humans and tapeworms make questionable choices, do awful things. We are given multiple perspectives and in the middle is Sal, who is torn between her fellow chimera and the humans she loves.
Moreover, as disgusting as I find the idea of a tapeworm crawling around my insides, I really came to care for Sal, Adam, and Tansy. I feared for their lives and hoped that they’d all survive against the odds – particularly with Tansy. After the events of [b:Symbiont|13641108|Symbiont (Parasitology, #2)|Mira Grant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393586567s/13641108.jpg|19255873], Tansy appeared basically in name only in Chimera (she was the tapeworm equivalent of comatose), and I missed her dearly.The only character I didn’t really come to feel anything for was Juniper – I understand why she was created, and what she represented for Sal; ultimately she didn’t add anything to the story for me because we spent so little page time with her. Also, I’m not sure if this is a problem that any other readers had during the series, but Dr. Cale strongly reminded me of Dr. Abbey from Newsflesh, and I found myself conflating the two, pretty much. There were also a few plot points that were introduced, but weren’t addressed or resolved satisfactorily.
Grant raised the stakes for her characters in Chimera – I was never certain that Sherman would be defeated or that Sal and her family would make it out unscathed. I felt Sal’s fear, her hope, and her desperation. For the first time in this series, Sal is actively making choices (and recruits others into helping her) rather than letting things happen to her
Was this book a perfect book? No, but Grant’s abilities as a story-teller made me enjoy this book so much I was able to overlook the problems I had with it. I loved being a part of this world, and I hope Grant revisits it in the future (with a book about Tansy or Fishy, please).
This review also appears on my blog What Kim Read Next.
Being a monster is not the same as being a bad person. It just means you’re willing to eat the world if that’s what you have to do to keep yourself alive.
Moreover, as disgusting as I find the idea of a tapeworm crawling around my insides, I really came to care for Sal, Adam, and Tansy. I feared for their lives and hoped that they’d all survive against the odds – particularly with Tansy. After the events of [b:Symbiont|13641108|Symbiont (Parasitology, #2)|Mira Grant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393586567s/13641108.jpg|19255873], Tansy appeared basically in name only in Chimera (she was the tapeworm equivalent of comatose), and I missed her dearly.The only character I didn’t really come to feel anything for was Juniper – I understand why she was created, and what she represented for Sal; ultimately she didn’t add anything to the story for me because we spent so little page time with her. Also, I’m not sure if this is a problem that any other readers had during the series, but Dr. Cale strongly reminded me of Dr. Abbey from Newsflesh, and I found myself conflating the two, pretty much. There were also a few plot points that were introduced, but weren’t addressed or resolved satisfactorily.
Grant raised the stakes for her characters in Chimera – I was never certain that Sherman would be defeated or that Sal and her family would make it out unscathed. I felt Sal’s fear, her hope, and her desperation. For the first time in this series, Sal is actively making choices (and recruits others into helping her) rather than letting things happen to her
Was this book a perfect book? No, but Grant’s abilities as a story-teller made me enjoy this book so much I was able to overlook the problems I had with it. I loved being a part of this world, and I hope Grant revisits it in the future (with a book about Tansy or Fishy, please).
This review also appears on my blog What Kim Read Next.