From the Bookshelf of SpecFic Buddy Reads…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
This was more than a well-crafted suspense novel. The world-building was very reinforced, perhaps too-much so in one direction, but the effect was pleasing. Snippets of interviews and the children's book sufficed to creep me out consistently. As for the main character, I was generally just fine with the idea that she was a six year old in a 26 year old body for a very good reason. She was super naive. That's fine for a character, but it did give the readers a bit of breathing space. Omniscient v
...more
3.5 stars
Parasite is a near future thriller that imagines a world where personal health care is essentially managed by individuals ingesting specially bioengineered tapeworms. Well, of course, that completely backfires in the worst way one can imagine as the tapeworms become self-aware and try to take over their hosts.
For the most part I quite enjoyed this book. The story was definitely creepy, and I thought the characters were interesting enough, if not overly complex. However, I also thought ...more
Parasite is a near future thriller that imagines a world where personal health care is essentially managed by individuals ingesting specially bioengineered tapeworms. Well, of course, that completely backfires in the worst way one can imagine as the tapeworms become self-aware and try to take over their hosts.
For the most part I quite enjoyed this book. The story was definitely creepy, and I thought the characters were interesting enough, if not overly complex. However, I also thought ...more
4.5 Stars
This is a great blend of dystopian SciFi and medical horror. I'm not sure if the science on this checks out and I don't really want to know. What is creepier than sentient tapeworms taking over the human race? ...more
This is a great blend of dystopian SciFi and medical horror. I'm not sure if the science on this checks out and I don't really want to know. What is creepier than sentient tapeworms taking over the human race? ...more
Early on this reminded me a little of Lock In by Scalzi. Although this is not about a pandemic, but about a society that willingly infects itself with a parasite. That tapeworm prevents people from getting sick, prevents allergies and chronic illnesses and even helps with hangovers. Good deal, right?
Sally nearly dies in a car accidents, falls into a coma and eventually is diagnosed as brain dead. Just when her physician tries to convince her family to turn off the machines keeping her alive, sh ...more
Sally nearly dies in a car accidents, falls into a coma and eventually is diagnosed as brain dead. Just when her physician tries to convince her family to turn off the machines keeping her alive, sh ...more
My experience with this book was a bit of a mixed bag. The premise was intriguing -- a world where most of humanity has bio-engineered parasites living inside them that solve all of their medical problems. It was easy to read and relatively fast paced, but ultimately felt a bit too predicable (e.g. what are the chances that somehow this miracle drug goes wrong?) The character Tansy was insufferable and a few of the "twists" seemed implausible. To end the book with a "to be continued" also felt p
...more
Jun 11, 2014
Gali
marked it as to-read
Dec 19, 2016
Missy
marked it as to-read
Nov 30, 2017
Tyler
marked it as to-read
Mar 07, 2018
Aqsa
marked it as to-read
Jul 27, 2020
Navi
marked it as to-read
Jun 12, 2023
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Nov 04, 2023
Layton
marked it as to-read
