A review by cassidee_omnilegent
Parasites by Matthew Samuels

4.0

“I’m so sick of this. Sick of scavenging and proves and scouting and caution and harvesting. I don’t care that we’re amazing at it. I don’t care that we can just dampen down every part of our curiousity which make us human. I’m sick of just wandering around and taking what we can find. I’m sick of being parasites.”

I started this book this morning and I easily finished in a couple of hours. Parasites by Matthew Samuels is an easily devourable YA science fiction and space odyssey novel. Our home-world is Lyra, which is rapidly declining. Our main characters, Alessia and Kael are best friends that explore other worlds to scavenge objects, food, and other means to keep their home and people from crumbling at an even faster rate. Alessia sets out on a mission with Kael and their friend/bodyguard/father figure, Basteel, to find a solution to the imminent danger to their planet. It happens to be that this is the same mission her father was on when he disappeared.

What I loved most about this book was the friendship between Lessie and Kael. I think it makes it easier to face dangers over and over when you have someone to trust. Eventually, they acquire a good little group of trusted individuals that make their mission easier. Also, Alessia was conflicted about her feelings towards her father when he disappeared and I think Samuels was very wise in doing that. I think it made her more human and relatable. Sometimes people die and you have unresolved feelings or you feel bad about the conflicted feelings you had. Part of this story was about finding peace within herself after her father disappeared.

I think that this is an especially fabulous introduction to the majesty that is science fiction and solar punk for YA. I felt like I was learning new things while reading an entertaining story and this is the type of story that you feel smarter after reading. At the same time, it’s completely marketable to readers of all ages. If you’re looking for an indie author to support, give Samuels a try. You’ll hardly believe this is an independent publication. Thank you, Matthew for sending me this delightful story.