This week's next ARC review for Friday Reads is one book that held me captive as soon as I started it and I highly recommend to everyone who isn't of the squeamish variety!
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I got an ARC from Parasite via NetGalley quite a while back, but hadn't got to it till now and wow, what a book I had been missing on!
Parasite is not an easy book to define, since from the start you are not exactly sure what you are reading: is it a science thriller? is it a zombie book? or maybe is a dystopian? I have to say it does have a bit of everything since it is set up in the future, there is quite a lot of science in it but never in a overwhelming way, and despite there not being any zombies in it, at least not proper zombies, it does have the disquieting and creepy factor of a zombie book.
The way the story is told is mostly from Sal's POV and with some extracts from scientific reports, interviews, books and news at the start of every chapter, which serve as a reminder all along that despite the book starting from the very personal, following Sal's story, it will have a wider scope in the end, and all that information we've been getting will add up in ways we might have not realized at first. I will be trying my best to make sure I keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but some minor spoilers could slip off, so sorry in advance for that!
Sal used to go by Sally till 6 years ago when she had an car accident that left her in a coma so deep she was considered brain-dead and was about to get disconnected when she unexpectedly woke up with her mind a complete blank state, not knowing who she was, no memory of her family or her past, not even of basic motor abilities or even speak or read English. Her "miracle" recovery was thought to be caused by her SymboGen parasite implant and since then she's been under the care of SymboGen and submitted to many tests to figure out how that happened.
Sally's family treat Sal like a child, even if her sister and father seem to be happy to get a second chance to connect with her. Nathan and the people she works with at the rescue do treat her as her own person, and the people at SymboGen treat her mostly as a lab rat or as an experiment.
The story moves from being very personal following Sal's life and struggles to the more broad of the rest of the population when strange happenings are happening in front of her and Nathan. They discover it's something that's being happening all over and when it happens again at SymboGen when Sal is there for her tests. That's when it's clear that the owner of the company and the company itself do have many secrets that could be endangering the general population well being.
There are plenty of creepy moments involving the "Sleepers" and all the science involved it's so plausible that it's disturbing to think how something like this could be in our future! Also, with such a big focus on the parasitic implants and science talk, this is so not a book for the squeamish!
The ending is not exactly a cliffhanger per se, cause if you've been quite focused on all the clues spread out in the book you're quite likely to have guessed the final reveal, but still, you have to wonder what is going to happen in the next book!
A very unique premise, great pacing with plenty of action, creepy moments and a few twists here and there, this book is very much worthy of 4.5 stars!
Parasite is not an easy book to define, since from the start you are not exactly sure what you are reading: is it a science thriller? is it a zombie book? or maybe is a dystopian? I have to say it does have a bit of everything since it is set up in the future, there is quite a lot of science in it but never in a overwhelming way, and despite there not being any zombies in it, at least not proper zombies, it does have the disquieting and creepy factor of a zombie book.
The way the story is told is mostly from Sal's POV and with some extracts from scientific reports, interviews, books and news at the start of every chapter, which serve as a reminder all along that despite the book starting from the very personal, following Sal's story, it will have a wider scope in the end, and all that information we've been getting will add up in ways we might have not realized at first. I will be trying my best to make sure I keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but some minor spoilers could slip off, so sorry in advance for that!
Sal used to go by Sally till 6 years ago when she had an car accident that left her in a coma so deep she was considered brain-dead and was about to get disconnected when she unexpectedly woke up with her mind a complete blank state, not knowing who she was, no memory of her family or her past, not even of basic motor abilities or even speak or read English. Her "miracle" recovery was thought to be caused by her SymboGen parasite implant and since then she's been under the care of SymboGen and submitted to many tests to figure out how that happened.
Sally's family treat Sal like a child, even if her sister and father seem to be happy to get a second chance to connect with her. Nathan and the people she works with at the rescue do treat her as her own person, and the people at SymboGen treat her mostly as a lab rat or as an experiment.
The story moves from being very personal following Sal's life and struggles to the more broad of the rest of the population when strange happenings are happening in front of her and Nathan. They discover it's something that's being happening all over and when it happens again at SymboGen when Sal is there for her tests. That's when it's clear that the owner of the company and the company itself do have many secrets that could be endangering the general population well being.
There are plenty of creepy moments involving the "Sleepers" and all the science involved it's so plausible that it's disturbing to think how something like this could be in our future! Also, with such a big focus on the parasitic implants and science talk, this is so not a book for the squeamish!
The ending is not exactly a cliffhanger per se, cause if you've been quite focused on all the clues spread out in the book you're quite likely to have guessed the final reveal, but still, you have to wonder what is going to happen in the next book!
A very unique premise, great pacing with plenty of action, creepy moments and a few twists here and there, this book is very much worthy of 4.5 stars!
I'm reading this right now and loving every second of it. After all, Seanan as Mira is the author of my favorite book in the world, Feed. Anything she writes has to be great.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review, Pili!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you Maja, I really need to check her other series while I wait for the next book in this one!
DeleteEven just reading reviews for this book makes me feel a little squeamish, hah. I'm glad that you enjoyed it, Pili! I tried picking it up a few days ago, but couldn't really get into it, though I think it was more my mood than anything. Thanks for the helpful review!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine it would be a bit of a hard book to get into for some one squeamish but it really was a great read, Sam!
DeleteI absolutely LOVED Parasite, this must be one of my favourite books of the year! Great review Pili, I'm glad you finally got into it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeann! I absolutely loved it and can't wait for its sequel!
DeleteThe cover of this book reminds me of Warm bodies, I don't know why! :)
ReplyDeleteIt does sound good, I'll be looking forward to read it!
Thanks for the review!
Lis @ The reader lines
Thanks Lis! This is not exactly a zombie book but some scenes might be a bit zombie-esque! Hope you'll check it out!
Delete