The Parasite
By Mira Grant
October 29, 2013

Parasite was an adult futuristic horror. In this world SymboGen Corporation has developed a genetically engineered tapeworm. The tapeworm keeps people safe from illnesses and increases the immune system. Years after most everybody has a tapeworm thriving within them. And for the most part they are out of harm’s way until the parasites start to get restless.

Parasite is the first book in the Parasitology series by the same author as The Feed series, I have not read that series yet. The thought of a parasite inside is just disturbing. It reminded me of the t.v. series Monsters Inside Me mixed with the book The Host. The strange thing about it is that it was a real “diet” plan back in the 19th century. People really did buy and swallow tapeworms.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I was a bit intimidated by the length of this book because I thought I might not be able to follow all the science terms and explanations I was expecting, but that wasn't a problem at all. Once I got into the book, I became fascinated by the science and couldn't put the book down! The character development was solid and the detailed descriptions were fascinating to me. I look forward to continuing with the series.

5/5 stars.

A thoroughly engrossing read; part horror and part thriller it is a page turner - although not always consistently so. I thought the characters well drawn and think Mira Grant a talented writer.

A wonderfully creepy premise. "Parasite" contains all of the hallmarks of a Mira Grant novel: very good prose, an intriguing premise, a good dose of creepiness, and a well-paced plot.

Recommended.

I did not have a chance to read this book, but it is effecting my feedback rating. I am giving books 5 stars that I haven't read to improve my feedback rating. I am not recommending the book for my classroom or students since I have not read the book. There needs to be a better system of leaving feedback for books not read.

I saw the ending a mile away but still loved this novel! Grant has a way of making you second guess yourself before revealing that you were right all- along, and as a reader, I hate knowing what will happen but the validation makes it interesting!

For whatever reason, this story didn't quite pique my interest. I DNF'd, but would absolutely read Mira Grant's other work, especially considering that I like and recommend her Wayward Children series that she writes as Seanan McGuire!

(Review was originally posted to my GR account but never here, trying to remedy that now)

I've had some time to think about this book and Sal a bit. First off, thank you netgalley for the amazing chance to read this early. I will still be buying it as a Halloween gift to myself.

In *trying* to remain as spoiler free as I can, the plot as simply as I can put it is a world in which many minimal (and even some major) medical issues have all been subverted through the use of medical genetically engineered tape worms. Allergies, colds, medications, even designer drugs can all be implemented through the use of SymboGens new pet parasite and they can be tailored to your specific needs. With handy insurance and government programs, nearly every one can get one affordably. Wide spread basic medical concerns fixed for all!

At least, until something starts going wonky. Sal, a car accident victim who was technically brain dead, magically recovers from her coma, thus making her the unwilling poster girl for Symbogen. Sal however, just wants to be left to live her own life in peace with a little independence of her own. No therapists and bi-annual visits to Symbogen to play lab-rat. Just freedom to love her family (while not living with them), work at the animal shelter, and raise crazy carnivorous plants with her boyfriend.

Poor Sal, who has lost all past memory of ever being "Sally", has been living and learning a new life for only six years, but she knows something hinky is going on after events at a mall outing with her sister, a dog stealing situation, and an issue at Symbogen itself.

Mira in her amazing fashion has the ability to spoon feed you certain hints while pulling the carpet out from under you at the same time. you get to know and like Sal through her journey of self actualization and general "trying to figure out wtf is going on?" adventure. And Sal isn't the only amazing character. Even some of the minor characters seem to have obvious depth, motivation, and a spark of life rather than being static throw-a-way characters. Such as Beverly, the dog. Beverly is the greatest literary dog ever. Okay besides Mouse (The Dresden Files). Seriously...good dog, good dog!! It goes to show Mira's talent that she instantly had me bond with this creature (I'm a push over for animals).

Plus the amount of research and creativity Mira put in to the parasitology itself is just amazing and a joy to read (from a scientific stand point...I'm a biology nerd). Carnivorous plants, which I absolutely looked up to see what Sal was buying, and genetically enhanced parasites, Mira is a scientist at heart.

I think I would move to California just to be her bestie. Or to make her coffee like a little lackie. I don't care which.

I will impatiently wait for the next, although re-reading it upon actual release will have to suffice for now.

I was excited to read this book, but was ultimately disappointed.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. I found it very slow moving and hard to get attached the the characters. In the end I didn't want to continue the series which is unusual for me. I always need to know how the story line will end, but this is one series I won't be pursuing.

Mira Grant is the science fiction side of Seanan McGuire, the fantasy writer responsible for the OCTOBER DAYE and INCRYPTID fantasy series. Her last outing was the NEWSFLESH trilogy, which I loved (especially the first book, Feed). Now she’s published the first novel in the PARASITOLOGY duology, Parasite. And it’s a doozy.

Parasitology opens with the transcription of a video recording. Dr. Shanti Cale is speaking directly to the camera about her experiments with diphyllobothrium symbogenesis. We have no idea yet what this is, but we watch her inspect the intestine of a brain-dead human male, into which she implanted eggs of her living invention six days earlier. And sure enough, there are now living worms in the man’s intestine.

Eew, you say, and who can blame you? Why would anyone create a worm capable of living in the human gut? But this is one of the first stages in SymboGen’s development of a tapeworm that massively improves the life and health of all the human beings who choose to ingest a pill containing the worm, living in apparent symbiosis with the creature as it eliminates harmful germs, viruses and bacteria.

Here’s where the real science comes in. In Grant’s story, the tapeworm is the corporation’s answer to the hygiene hypothesis, first proposed in the late 1980’s. This hypothesis holds that more people are developing life-threatening allergies and autoimmune conditions because they aren’t getting enough exposure to infectious agents when they are children, thus not enabling their bodies to develop the means to fight them off. When every soap we use is an anti-bacterial soap, and everything we touch is sterilized to within an inch of its life before we use it; when peanuts are essentially banned in public places; when every animal we eat has been pumped full of antibiotics, thus pumping us full of antibiotics, our bodies no longer have any work to do, and therefore they don’t. Grant takes this hypothesis to what seems to be a logical conclusion: because we don’t have the proper antibodies, a mechanism like the tapeworm is necessary to protect human health.

We see the value of the organism in the next scene. Sally Mitchell is dying, slowly but surely, after having been rendered clinically brain dead in an automobile accident. Her doctor is pleading with her family to take her off life support, arguing that Sally is gone and isn’t coming back; if they take her off life support now, her organs can be used to help others to live. But even while the doctor is pleading his case, Sally wakes up. She has lost everything — her ability to speak, to walk, to read — but her life. And her personality has changed enormously. Indeed, she is now a much nicer person than the old Sally was, in just about every way. The only explanation is that the tapeworm inside her has somehow managed to repair the damage inflicted on her body, including her brain. SymboGen is taking credit for her recovery, in any event, and keeps close tabs on what is happening with Sally as she returns to her family and tries to start a new life. In fact, Sally is required to undergo psychotherapy and periodic intense medical testing to ensure that her health continues — and, presumably, to find out why her implant worked as it did.

But all is not well in the halls of SymboGen. For one thing, a sort of sleeping sickness has started up, apparently only in people with tapeworms; but somehow SymboGen has been able to keep this development out of the news. What’s up with SymboGen, anyway? And why are they keeping such close tabs on Sally, who, for all intents and purposes, appears to have fully recovered? And where does Sally’s boyfriend, who happens to be a parasitologist who has refused to swallow the pill that would give him a tapeworm, fit into things?

I love that Grant makes the most outlandish biological conditions sound absolutely reasonable. Her science is strong, and a good extrapolation from what we know in the present. I know some folks find the notion that anyone would voluntarily take a tapeworm into his or her body to be completely outlandish, but I also know plenty of people who wish they could have a tapeworm for just long enough to lose that last 10 pounds. How far from that idle wish is it to the acceptance of a medical treatment that keeps you healthy so long as you are in symbiosis with it? We all know that there are plenty of organisms that aren’t human already living in our bodies, so how big a step is it from that to accepting one that seems to be unambiguously beneficial? And how eager would a pharmaceutical company be to press such a “product” on a market at tremendous profit without quite making sure it’s completely safe over the long term?

Grant combines good scientific extrapolation with suspense so thoroughly that it’s hard to put this book down. Still, any reader paying attention is probably going to figure out what’s really behind Sally’s miraculous recovery fairly early on. But that isn’t the end of the story. You’ll finish Parasite eager for the next book.

Sorry, could not get to reading this book on time - thank you for the opportunity to review!

I loved Mira Grant's Newsflesh series, and is one I recommend all the time for lovers of zombie fiction. It has so much depth and was a new take on how zombies came to be.

Parasite is the first book in the second series by Seanan McGuire writing as Mira Grant. As the first book of Parasitology, it is setting the ground work for the rest of the trilogy. In this future world, genetically modified tapeworms are implanted in people that augment your immune system. People no longer get sick. Yay! Main character Sal was in a serious car accident a number of years ago and thanks to her parasite, was saved. She has no memory of her life before the accident, and still struggles to fit back in. She has regular tests and checks at SymboGen, the company who created the tapeworms and who use her as the example of just how good the tapeworms can be. She has a stable and caring relationship with a doctor, a job she enjoys and a future that she wouldn't have had without the worm.

That being said, when the main character is so fucking stupid that she doesn't see all of the totally obvious hints and clues that us as the reader do, it can really jolt you out of the book. The tension wasn't all that tensiony, and the supporting characters were either annoying or shallow, and the ending was neither a surprise nor unexpected. The plot lead quite logically to the end, it just wasn't anything out of left field, like the end of Feed (book one of the Newsflesh series). I would still be interested to read the rest, but not any time soon.

http://elaiaezine.me/fiction-friday-parasite-by-mira-grant/

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2004057652?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2004057652?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1Four stars: Zombies meet genetic tampering. Fascinating, scary and suspenseful.

Sal remember nothing of her life until the moment she woke up staring at the ceiling in the hospital room. For the last six years, she has relearned everything and become a new person. Sally, the girl she used to be, is all but gone.The drawback to Sal’s recovery is that she must go to SymboGen monthly for tests. SymboGen is a billion dollar corporation, build upon the science of genetically altered tapeworms. Billions of people around the world, now have the genetic tapeworms, “the Body Guard” inside them, protecting from disease and illness. When people suddenly start succumbing to a strange sleep walking sickness, Sal is alarmed. The more she learns, the more she fears. Could SymboGen and the parasites be the cause of the sickness? Worse, if she continues to investigate and open doors, will she be able to go back?
What I Liked:
*I found Parasite to be a brilliant, creepy, suspenseful and satisfying read. I loved the science and the attention to detail. Ms. Grant delivers a terrifying story that is completely believable. Shiver. To me, this was like Jurassic Park colliding with the Zombie Apocalypse. Definitely a thriller not to be missed.
*The cast of characters is unforgettable. I liked that you never knew who to trust and that you weren’t even sure of the reliability of the narrator. Some of the characters are down right creepy. I have to admit, I got quite attached to Tansy the psychopath. I was also intrigued by the mad scientists, not sure whose motives and actions were worse. Lots of times, unlikeable characters don’t work, but in this book they were fantastic.
*The story is packed full of mystery and suspense. I liked watching things unravel, and digging for clues. Plus, there were some exciting twists and turns at the end.
*I loved all the science in this one. Ms. Grant obviously did her homework. I can’t go into too much detail as I don’t want to spoil things, but think splicing genes of tapeworms and blending them to create genetically altered parasites. Kind of like the science of making dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, which you know is not going to end well. I found it fascinating and creepy. Shudders.
*Sal, the main character, is a bit of a tough sell. I wasn't sure about her for most of the book. However, I did like her tenacity and her courage, and her affection for animals. By the end, I was attached, and I am prepared to hang in with her for the duration.
*The ending was satisfying. I didn’t end with a dramatic cliffhanger, which was a relief. I liked that it ended in a good spot after some big revelations. Looking forward to the next book.
*I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Christine Lakin. I thought Ms. Lakin did a superb job. I am definitely planning on continuing the series in audiobook format.
And The Not So Much:
*I didn't like the fact that Sal didn’t clue in way earlier as to what was going on with her condition. It was very apparent early on. When it was finally revealed at the end, I was relieved, thinking at last. No big surprise. The only thing I can think of as to why she didn’t figure it out was either she was in denial or it was due to her naivety considering that in reality she was really only six years old.
*I was bothered by a scene at the end when Sal returns to SymboGen. How did the doctors in the lab all of sudden know that she had the information on her. Who clued them in? It didn’t make sense.
*I wished that there was a bit more background detail on Sal’s father and his job. I also would have liked to know what Sally knew about her father’s work. I am wondering of there is a connection between Sally’s accident, her father’s work etc. I think there has to be because otherwise everything falling into place the way it so conveniently did isn’t realistic.

Parasite was a fascinating, creepy and suspense read detailing what happens when mad scientists tamper with nature. I enjoyed the attention to detail and the believability of the story. This was a page turner. I am eager to continue the series to see what else lies behind those broken doors. If you want a suspenseful thriller, this is one to check out.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.