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mahovina's review
3.0
I really interesting concept for a novel that I was sucked into but I have no idea what was happening
nepiche's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was really good!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters, the world, everything about it. New author to look out for for me!!
honnari_hannya's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this quite a bit. If you want a book with the same energy as Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Writing is great, intensely atmospheric. I wish it would be a little clearer on the worldbuilding earlier on, since it is was too ambiguous even a third in so it made it hard to visualize what was going on in a wider sense of the story. There is a point in which mystery becomes vagueness, and it doesn’t really work in terms of helping the reader understand the importance of certain aspects of the worldbuilding (i.e. the wastes, the Institute, etc.).
I also wonder if it would be more or less immersion breaking for this to have been written in in the plural first person, given that the parasite hosts many bodies but they are essentially the same. The narratives has to remind us quite a bit that the Doctor is a parasite. I do quite like how visceral the writing is, it really does make the “occupation” of the body real. (The body as a machine? Body politic taken literally? The disposability of human bodies in a feudalistic and capitalistic world?) So much concern about bodies in this, as expected from a book about parasites, but also in the other characters. Old characters, sick characters, disabled characters—some on the verge of dying, some who refuse to die, some being kept alive by machinery so that a doctor is as much a mechanic as a biologist, twisting valves in hearts that bring the body to death before restarting it like a car with another twist. Also a book about trauma and its scars, the ways in which those legacies sometimes make you capable and culpable of harm, and how excising the parasite of that is sometimes the only way to move forward.
I also wonder if it would be more or less immersion breaking for this to have been written in in the plural first person, given that the parasite hosts many bodies but they are essentially the same. The narratives has to remind us quite a bit that the Doctor is a parasite. I do quite like how visceral the writing is, it really does make the “occupation” of the body real. (The body as a machine? Body politic taken literally? The disposability of human bodies in a feudalistic and capitalistic world?) So much concern about bodies in this, as expected from a book about parasites, but also in the other characters. Old characters, sick characters, disabled characters—some on the verge of dying, some who refuse to die, some being kept alive by machinery so that a doctor is as much a mechanic as a biologist, twisting valves in hearts that bring the body to death before restarting it like a car with another twist. Also a book about trauma and its scars, the ways in which those legacies sometimes make you capable and culpable of harm, and how excising the parasite of that is sometimes the only way to move forward.
ablanket42's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Physical abuse
Minor: Suicide
blemishedhearth's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
meganherself's review against another edition
didn’t vibe with the narrator, would rather try again with print format.
dumbcumpster's review
this book was hard to read, and not in a fun, challenging way, but rather it was so meandering, disjointed, and confusing that it was an absolute chore to read.
i didn't finish this book so take this review with a grain of salt. the author often brought things up that seemed both irrelevant and which didn't resolve, like the focus on the narrator's multiple bodies and brains. it's like the author wanted so badly to craft a story shrouded in mystique that they actually obscured the story and the result is a novel that leaves you with more questions than answers, that's frustratingly unclear, and that probably only makes sense to the author.
i didn't finish this book so take this review with a grain of salt. the author often brought things up that seemed both irrelevant and which didn't resolve, like the focus on the narrator's multiple bodies and brains. it's like the author wanted so badly to craft a story shrouded in mystique that they actually obscured the story and the result is a novel that leaves you with more questions than answers, that's frustratingly unclear, and that probably only makes sense to the author.
stepriot's review
5.0
I'm not sure I've ready anything quite like it. The world building is astounding. This is the type of book that will reveal more with every reading. Some of the shifts are so seemless it took me time to catch on.
dremmavendetta's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This was a complicated one to review. The first half felt very different than the second. Not in a cool way but more in a disjointed way. I’m sure that still can fit the general interrogation of themes and aesthetic. But didn’t love this as much as I’d hoped to. Also the audio narrator needs to do some work (some basic words were fully mispronounced).