buffyb's review
4.0
Nutshell blurb: In the future, humans live disease-free due to a parasite engineered by a company called SymboGen. Things are hunky-dory until the parasites decide that they want their own lives.
Yes, the premise of this book is excruciatingly gross. The thought of having a parasite living inside of me ON PURPOSE is horrifying. Much less the thought that it could become sentient and want to take over my body.
Hence the reason I HAD to read this book.
Mira Grant does a really great job of painting a hopeful future where things like diabetes or the common cold are things of the past. It’s very rare to find people who haven’t jumped on the parasite bandwagon.
The main character is Sally, a woman who had a nearly fatal car accident and whose family nearly pulled the plug on her life support. She made a miraculous recovery and was the subject of study for the SymboGen corporation as a result.
I’m not going to say anything more about the plot so as to avoid spoilers.
What I will tell you is that I really like Ms. Grant’s style of writing. She’s quirky and she has a knack for adventure and action. I’ve only read two of her books so far (here’s the link to my post on Feed if you’re interested in reading it) and I’ve really enjoyed them.
My problem with this book and the reason that I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I felt that it was very similar to Feed. They both featured a future that saw us with some sort of disease-preventing technology that’s gone wrong. And the characters were quite similar.
In Parasite, there’s the main character, Sally who seemed remarkably similar to Feed’s Georgia. There’s Sally’s boyfriend, Nathan, who reminded me of Georgia’s brother, Shaun. There’s the plucky side-kick, Tansy who could have easily been related to Feed‘s Buffy.
Even though the Parasite characters were, in many ways, different from their Feed counterparts they still felt connected to me. As I read the parts with them in it, I found myself picturing the characters from Feed. I’ve never experienced that before. It was eerie, although probably unintentionally so. As characterisation is a huge part of what draws me into a novel, I must admit that it was a bit off-putting.
However, the story was gripping enough that it wasn’t a huge issue for me. It was an enjoyable read and I would be up for reading the next one.
Please feel free to visit my book blog: https://storytimewithbuffy.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/parasite/
Yes, the premise of this book is excruciatingly gross. The thought of having a parasite living inside of me ON PURPOSE is horrifying. Much less the thought that it could become sentient and want to take over my body.
Hence the reason I HAD to read this book.
Mira Grant does a really great job of painting a hopeful future where things like diabetes or the common cold are things of the past. It’s very rare to find people who haven’t jumped on the parasite bandwagon.
The main character is Sally, a woman who had a nearly fatal car accident and whose family nearly pulled the plug on her life support. She made a miraculous recovery and was the subject of study for the SymboGen corporation as a result.
I’m not going to say anything more about the plot so as to avoid spoilers.
What I will tell you is that I really like Ms. Grant’s style of writing. She’s quirky and she has a knack for adventure and action. I’ve only read two of her books so far (here’s the link to my post on Feed if you’re interested in reading it) and I’ve really enjoyed them.
My problem with this book and the reason that I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I felt that it was very similar to Feed. They both featured a future that saw us with some sort of disease-preventing technology that’s gone wrong. And the characters were quite similar.
In Parasite, there’s the main character, Sally who seemed remarkably similar to Feed’s Georgia. There’s Sally’s boyfriend, Nathan, who reminded me of Georgia’s brother, Shaun. There’s the plucky side-kick, Tansy who could have easily been related to Feed‘s Buffy.
Even though the Parasite characters were, in many ways, different from their Feed counterparts they still felt connected to me. As I read the parts with them in it, I found myself picturing the characters from Feed. I’ve never experienced that before. It was eerie, although probably unintentionally so. As characterisation is a huge part of what draws me into a novel, I must admit that it was a bit off-putting.
However, the story was gripping enough that it wasn’t a huge issue for me. It was an enjoyable read and I would be up for reading the next one.
Please feel free to visit my book blog: https://storytimewithbuffy.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/parasite/
tawnsolo's review
4.0
I really appreciate that this book focused more on science, psychology, and ethics, than action. I also really enjoyed the storyline. I found it thought provoking, refreshing, and very well thought out. I feel like the premise of this book could easily occur, and the characters were all fascinating to watch unfold.
hollzmj's review
4.0
I absolutely love Mira Grant's books. I read the Feed trilogy and just had to try another series.
Like Feed, this is such an unusual take on the genre.
Potential spoiler
Reading through the main characters naive eyes, the story unfolds between the lines as much as it does on them. I know for some, this may come across as slightly predictable, I found it interesting and sometimes frustrating, in the "open your eyes" kind of way, that just made me want to read it more!
Im already a third of the way through book two and looking forward to the story unfolding more!
Like Feed, this is such an unusual take on the genre.
Potential spoiler
Reading through the main characters naive eyes, the story unfolds between the lines as much as it does on them. I know for some, this may come across as slightly predictable, I found it interesting and sometimes frustrating, in the "open your eyes" kind of way, that just made me want to read it more!
Im already a third of the way through book two and looking forward to the story unfolding more!
creaturebooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
thereistime's review against another edition
3.0
I feel that this book would have been far more enjoyable had I not read the Newsflesh trilogy first.
There were way too many similarities between the two stories and characters and it left me feeling like I had just read a Newflesh alternate universe rather than a completely different book in it's own right.
The writing was still fantastic and I will definitely continue with the series, but I found it to be predictable and many people, including myself, spent half or more of the book already knowing and expecting the big 'plot twist' at the end.
I had such high hopes for this book, and unfortunately, it did not deliver.
There were way too many similarities between the two stories and characters and it left me feeling like I had just read a Newflesh alternate universe rather than a completely different book in it's own right.
The writing was still fantastic and I will definitely continue with the series, but I found it to be predictable and many people, including myself, spent half or more of the book already knowing and expecting the big 'plot twist' at the end.
I had such high hopes for this book, and unfortunately, it did not deliver.
virgowhoreads's review
3.0
3.5 stars
I like this take on zombies, it felt terrifyingly real. However, this was a long book to really not get anywhere. I know it's part of a series, but I needed more to happen for me to want to continue on. I may read the rest of the series, but I'm not in a rush to.
I like this take on zombies, it felt terrifyingly real. However, this was a long book to really not get anywhere. I know it's part of a series, but I needed more to happen for me to want to continue on. I may read the rest of the series, but I'm not in a rush to.
ddeenik's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
wuchtorff's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
roseybot's review
3.0
I wanted to like this book so much. There was plenty of potential at the beginning, but as it became more and more obvious where it was going, I started disengaging so that by the time I got to the end, I was mostly just bored, and disappointed.