Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Review: Symbiont (Parasitology #2) by Mira Grant

Title: Symbiont

Series: Mira Grant

Previous book in this series: Parasite

Author: Parasitology #2

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, horror

Publication date: November 2014

Published by: Orbit

Source: Borrowed form library

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Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Thrift Books

Synopsis: THE ENEMY IS INSIDE US.

The SymboGen designed tapeworms were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world's population began attacking their hosts, turning them into a ravenous horde.

Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the tapeworms are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is, and how they can be stopped.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I always swore that I was going to do great things with my life, things that would change the world in a way that could never be undone. Well, I guess I got my wish. I brought an end to the Age of Mankind.
-Dr. Cale

I really enjoyed this sequel to Parasite! I'm just really enjoying the unique concept and the good mix of sci-fi and horror. Although the concept of the implanted tapeworm trying to take over its human host is unique (to me at least), the end result is not, but that's not a bad thing! This book was giving zombie apocalypse, except instead of the undead we got parasites, and honestly, I was here for it! I liked it!

As we learned in the last book, the tapeworms are moving from the stomach, where they belong, to the brain. This is essentially killing its human host and turning them into a zombie. There was a scene in the book that described how the tapeworm moved to the brain and it was honestly horrifying.


That is one thing I love about this book, and this author's writing in general—how horrifying some things that are described are! Which is great because this is a horror book after all. Lol. In fact, the danger and tension didn't let up from the last book! I was stressed throughout the whole thing because these poor characters had to deal with one thing after another. Sal especially went through some pretty horrific things and there were times that I just wanted to cry for her. But Sal is a fighter and she persevered through bleak circumstances, never backing down from the challenges she faced. And I loved her for that.


I'm not sure what I am. I'm not sure why I'm here. But I'm sure of one thing. I don't want to die.
-Sal Mitchell

And throughout it all she had her boyfriend Nathan there supporting her in anything and everything as well. I absolutely adore him! At the end of the last book (beware of spoilers for Parasite ahead) we found out that Sally Mitchell is in fact dead. Sal of the present, she is a parasite, a sentient parasite. A parasite that moved from Sally's stomach to her brain at the time of the accident and successfully assimilated with Sally's brain and body. When Sal woke up after her accident, she had amnesia so severe that she had to relearn how to talk, walk, and do all of the basic human things. Well, it turned out that she was learning all of this for the first time! It was wild! As you can imagine, Sal was absolutely shocked and devastated to learn that she was a parasite this whole time. But the way Nathan was there for her, being supportive and reassuring... I loved it so much! He told her that it didn't matter and that he loved her for her!


I swear, if something happens to him in the next book, I will never recover.


I really enjoy this book! It was interesting and suspenseful and I just really love these characters. So because I love them, that ending was devastating! 😭 I don't know how Sal is going to get out of that one, but I have faith in her! I am really looking forward to seeing how this trilogy wraps up.

This was it: this was the moment where I would have to decide whether I wanted to be the girl I'd always been, or whether I was ready to become someone new. Someone who was brave enough to crawl into the dark alone, and see where the risk would take her. Someone who was going to survive.


Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊

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