Your newly implanted SymboGen Intestinal Body Guard tapeworm, modified with your DNA, is keeping you healthy. The “Body Guard” is secreting the enzymes that is needed to keep your diseases in check and to prevent illness.
“We don’t count as things going catastrophically wrong… we’re a natural evolutionary modification to an artificially created organism”
As with all medical advances, not all side effects can be known.
Why is this on our bookshelf?
People standing in lines to get a parasite into bodies. Others walking around like dead people because of side effects. A corrupt company, the FDA waiving drug studies, and a government powerless to do anything. This is a recipe for good reading.
Parasite was nominated for the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novel. It is written by Mira Grant, a pseudonym for Seanan McGuire.
Rating (3 stars)
After Sally’s near fatal accident, her Intestinal Body Guard saved her life. Like most parasites, this medically grown tapeworm, keeps its host as healthy as possible. With only a check up every six months to make sure your tapeworm is still at its optimal,you will be free from the medications and restrictions that once kept you from enjoying life.
However, Sally uncovers the extent of her and other people’s side effects and the length that the makers of the tapeworm will go to keep things quiet.
While I was very intrigued by the subject, I found the book took a long time to get to the core.
The middle of the book, I thought, was the strongest. It really showed the development of the main character in the social,family and romantic side of her being.
The hard decisions that she has to make are ones that we all can relate to at some level— the lesser of two evils, doing something not so good to make things better, the angel and devil approach in decisions making.
Read this book:
Medical and scientific mysteries are what you choose to read to relax.
Don't Read this book:
If you want more science on parasites.
Once you're done, do this:
Watch the Invasion of the Body Scratchers.
