Symbiont (Parasitology, #2)

by Mira Grant

[Melanie]

Review originally posted at RabidReads.ca.

I’m a huge fan of Mira Grant’s Newsflesh series. So, I decided to give her Parasitology series a try. This is a very interesting series. In this world, scientists have genetically modified tapeworms and made them help to medicine, instead of a hindrance. They can be tailored to an individual and help them with issues like epilepsy, like our main character Sally Mitchell. However, you know what happens with you play with Mother Nature.

In this story, we continue to learn more about what is going on with Sal and the others in this world. The government is starting to employ military tactics to protect Americans. People are starting to be rounded up and secured while the sleepwalkers are being disposed of.

We learn more about what is going on, but at the same time, more questions are coming up. Things happen leaving some characters in peril. Not sure where things are going to go from here. Luckily, I was able to jump into third book not long after finishing this one.

While, I really enjoyed this series, it doesn’t compare to the Newsflesh series, in my opinion (that is not a putdown for this series, just shows my love of Newsflesh). What does make this story great is Mira Grant’s ability to write characters that you truly care about. Not only was I highly invested in the main character of Sal, but also in many of the secondary characters. Tansy is a character that is a little off kilter, but an amazing character. She is extremely loyal to those she has as her family, but she really doesn’t have a conscience outside of them. She has no problem killing you if you try to hurt her family. Adam is childlike, but also much smarter than a child in other ways. Very smart, but emotionally a young child. Fishy, who thinks he’s living in a videogame, is fearless. I mean, if he gets killed, he can just use another life from the game. He is someone I would like to have at my back anyday. Dr. Cale is a real interesting character. She was instrumental in creating these worms, but she also saw what was going on well before anyone else. Her partner, Dr. Banks, chose greed over caution, so she left and been underground ever since. But, at the same time, Dr. Cale will do just about anything to learn more. She is all about knowledge. Sherman is one of the scariest guys, though he doesn’t always seem that way. He’s able to charm his way into anything. If you’re a character driven reader, like me, I can’t recommend Mira Grant enough.

Narration
Christine Lakin was a new-to-me narrator before starting this series. She did an amazing job with the narration of this series. Her voices and tone were perfect for each of the characters. She really brought out Sherman’s charm, Fishy’s crazy, Adam’s childishness. I loved her voice for Tansy and her crazy. I really enjoyed her narration and will be looking for her in the future.