Parasite by Mira Grant is an apocalyptic book that revolves around medical fears and what helps in the medical community. I enjoyed it, but don't know that it would be realistic or relevant because who would willingly put a parasite inside of themselves?
Sally has been in a coma for a few years, and she isn't expected to wake up, until she does. The day she wakes up is the same day her family is asked to give up and let her go. When she wakes up she doesn't remember anything before the coma. She doesn't remember who Sally used to be, or what happened to cause the accident. The only thing she seems to hold on is that she is afraid to be in a car. Deathly afraid. The SymboGen Corporation have a problem that no one knows about. Humanity has a problem they can't figure out. Sally, well she has a problem because she doesn't know who she can trust.
Sally, or Sal as she wants to be called now, has been awake for six years, but she feels like a child. While she has a boyfriend, Dr. Nathan Kim, and a part-time job at a shelter, she doesn't understand certain phrases, body gestures are strange, and people keep telling her that she isn't the girl they all knew before. Her family has guardianship over her, partly because every now and then she has fainting episodes, and partly because, since she can't remember anything from before the accident people think she can't be trusted to take care of herself. Suddenly, she has to figure out who to trust, because people all over the country are falling victim to a "Sleeping sickness," which is causing them to forget who they are, move towards an unknown source, and ignore the world around them. After a little while they start becoming violent, and people start to die. The cause? Only the doctors who created the cure can fix the problem. Yet, Dr. Banks and Dr. Canti don't have the same agendas, so the truth? Still not known. Is the problem imagined, or are the parasites to blame?
I've never read anything my Mira Grant, and I thought that this was an interesting idea. I did wonder who would allow themselves to be infected with a parasite to forgo taking medicine or control a medical problem (think allergies or diabetes). There were points in the book I thought could have been edited out. In all honesty, Sal became an annoying character. We didn't need to see as many frightening car freak outs as we did, and the fact that she didn't understand things was stated over and over and over, to the point where I just did not care anymore.
Sal's family was a little over-the-top, especially after one section. After one point in the story her father and mother both allude to the fact that she isn't the same, and this brings up issues for her, especially the way she is treated by her father and then her mother, after something traumatic happens to her. Nathan is too willing, at one point, to welcome someone back into his life who had disappeared long before he even became a doctor, which seemed very out of character for him.
There were only two characters I wished I could have seen more of. Those characters were Tansy, a psychotic little serial killer who had fun with whatever she was doing, and Joyce, Sal's sister. Otherwise, I have to say I got a little bored with the characters. Sal was a little too over anxious, Nathan was dull and I didn't feel that he had much of a personality, the medical professionals were all too obvious as to who they were and what they wanted, and everyone else, besides Tansy and Joyce, weren't developed enough to care about.
This book is the first in a series, and while I though the idea was an interesting choice for an apocalypse, I am not sure the characters were interesting enough to make me want to continue to read. I do have to say, the ending of this book was quite predictable, and I'm not sure it should have ended the way it did.
This might be more interesting for other readers, for me it didn't hold my interest. So why three stars? The writing wasn't bad, and I didn't hate it enough to stop reading it. Plus, when you read enough to like any of the characters I think that is a good reason to give a book more than just a few stars.
Sally has been in a coma for a few years, and she isn't expected to wake up, until she does. The day she wakes up is the same day her family is asked to give up and let her go. When she wakes up she doesn't remember anything before the coma. She doesn't remember who Sally used to be, or what happened to cause the accident. The only thing she seems to hold on is that she is afraid to be in a car. Deathly afraid. The SymboGen Corporation have a problem that no one knows about. Humanity has a problem they can't figure out. Sally, well she has a problem because she doesn't know who she can trust.
Sally, or Sal as she wants to be called now, has been awake for six years, but she feels like a child. While she has a boyfriend, Dr. Nathan Kim, and a part-time job at a shelter, she doesn't understand certain phrases, body gestures are strange, and people keep telling her that she isn't the girl they all knew before. Her family has guardianship over her, partly because every now and then she has fainting episodes, and partly because, since she can't remember anything from before the accident people think she can't be trusted to take care of herself. Suddenly, she has to figure out who to trust, because people all over the country are falling victim to a "Sleeping sickness," which is causing them to forget who they are, move towards an unknown source, and ignore the world around them. After a little while they start becoming violent, and people start to die. The cause? Only the doctors who created the cure can fix the problem. Yet, Dr. Banks and Dr. Canti don't have the same agendas, so the truth? Still not known. Is the problem imagined, or are the parasites to blame?
I've never read anything my Mira Grant, and I thought that this was an interesting idea. I did wonder who would allow themselves to be infected with a parasite to forgo taking medicine or control a medical problem (think allergies or diabetes). There were points in the book I thought could have been edited out. In all honesty, Sal became an annoying character. We didn't need to see as many frightening car freak outs as we did, and the fact that she didn't understand things was stated over and over and over, to the point where I just did not care anymore.
Sal's family was a little over-the-top, especially after one section. After one point in the story her father and mother both allude to the fact that she isn't the same, and this brings up issues for her, especially the way she is treated by her father and then her mother, after something traumatic happens to her. Nathan is too willing, at one point, to welcome someone back into his life who had disappeared long before he even became a doctor, which seemed very out of character for him.
There were only two characters I wished I could have seen more of. Those characters were Tansy, a psychotic little serial killer who had fun with whatever she was doing, and Joyce, Sal's sister. Otherwise, I have to say I got a little bored with the characters. Sal was a little too over anxious, Nathan was dull and I didn't feel that he had much of a personality, the medical professionals were all too obvious as to who they were and what they wanted, and everyone else, besides Tansy and Joyce, weren't developed enough to care about.
This book is the first in a series, and while I though the idea was an interesting choice for an apocalypse, I am not sure the characters were interesting enough to make me want to continue to read. I do have to say, the ending of this book was quite predictable, and I'm not sure it should have ended the way it did.
This might be more interesting for other readers, for me it didn't hold my interest. So why three stars? The writing wasn't bad, and I didn't hate it enough to stop reading it. Plus, when you read enough to like any of the characters I think that is a good reason to give a book more than just a few stars.
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