BOOK REVIEW: "Symbiont" by Mira Grant

"Symbiont" is the second book of my favourite science fiction/horror zombie series:"Parasite", where we see Sal continue her life in a zombie infested America. Previously a duology, Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) has now decided there will be a third instalment of the series ("Chimera") that will conclude Sal’s story, and that is one thing I am mighty glad for seeing as this book pales in comparison to the first book; now I can blame that on middle-book syndrome rather than whining about a mediocre ending to what could've been a great series. Though Grant continues to impress me with her attention to detail and the strong narrator voice, this book fell apart for me in regards to the lack of drive in terms of the plot, and where the characters were headed. This book in its entirety acts as a terrific world builder but unfortunately falls short of the kind of continuation of a story which you would expect in a sequel. 

First of all, Grant’s writing style and form remains ultimately effective in giving her dystopian zombieland dimension. Seamlessly integrated flashbacks, vivid and lush imagery, and Sal’s detailed internal monologues/narrations all form part of Grant’s strengths in providing clarity to the reader and executing well-written sci-fi/horror fiction. Within this, however, lies a certain downfall to her style of writing, which is that in parts of the novel, Grant “tells, but does not show” causing the prose in some places to sound a little forced:

“It’s not selfish to want to exist. It’s a function of the survival instinct buried in all complicated organisms. Even the Sleepwalkers had it. That is why they ate so voraciously following the deeply ingrained “this is how you survive’ commands remembered by their tapeworm minds, even as they struggled against the complicated and unfamiliar wiring of the human brain” (One of Sal’s interior monologues)

Throughout the novel, in extracts such as these, it seems as though Grant feels trapped by the first person perspective as she tries to imbue Sal with a uncharacteristically in-depth perception of the world which just says: “Man, I really wish I wrote this in third person.” It’s evident that Grant wishes to make valuable commentary on a number of issues including what it means to be human, the nature of evolution, and transphobia, but unfortunately falls short of well-integrated commentary because of the confinements of the first person perspective. While it’s important that entertainment industries make such commentaries, especially regarding transphobia, the effect of this in Grant’s book, is that it does come off as too forced, a little too much like a TedxTalk, and disrupts the natural trajectory of the story. An example of this can be seen in this interaction between Sal and Ronnie (where Ronnie is effectively a transgender character):

”Please don’t take me back,” I whispered
“I’m not going to.” [Ronnie replied]
“Why…”
“Because you’re the only person here who used the pronouns I asked them to use,” said Ronnie. He put the pistol away. “That buys you one ‘get out of jail free’ card from me.”

Here, Ronnie foils a master plan that he has effectively been a part of his whole life for Sal because she used the correct pronouns. I mean, part of me is yelling: “Noooo!!! Ronnie!!!!!! You deserve so much better than to go out of your way to reward basic human* decency!!!!” and the other part is saying: “This is an awfully forced use of social commentary to get Sal out of this situation.” But regardless of this, I appreciated the much needed transgender representation within this novel, and the numerous philosophical commentaries regarding human nature that Mira Grant has presented.

One other aspect of this book I also appreciated was the undying strength of Sal’s character. Though our leading lady is undeniably physically and, in some instances, mentally weak for the majority of the novel having to constantly overcome her phobia for cars and having her body being grotesquely violated (I would even argue: mutilated) TWICE, she remains one of the most spiritually strong characters I have read despite these unfathomable hardships. In addition to this, Sal thrives in a healthy inter-racial relationship (hell yes!!) where both she and Nathan learn and grow with each other. The only critique I have with the characterization of this novel is that there seems to be a time gap between "Parasite" and "Symbiont" where Sal is forced to adapt to new information, and this adaptation seems to be brushed over in the small time jump. As a result of this, it felt a bit fantastical to expect so little adversity in a situation where Nathan and Sal are both confronted with the fact that: (view spoiler) This felt a bit unnatural, but was not totally illogical. 

However as aforementioned, the greatest shortcoming of this novel is by far the lack of overall drive in regards to character motivations and plotline. The book, as Grant mentions briefly in the acknowledgements, is a product of the audience response which wanted more in depth detail of the inner-workings of this dystopian world over-run by this zombie virus. Because of this, the book was rich in lavish detail and scientific explanations of genetic markers and DNA splicing, and explored new possibilities such as different types of chimera/zombies but was so lacking in a direction for the story. Sure, the characters had objectives throughout the novel such as “SURVIVE!!!”, “ESCAPE!!!” and “RESCUE!!!” but these together felt like fragmented plot pieces that didn’t point to anywhere in particular. The best description of the overall plot of the novel from my impression was: “Save the human race!!! ...and maybe the zombies!!!”which is a pretty broad objective that really isn’t explored that well in the novel. Having finished the second book I don’t have a very good idea of what the third book wants to encapsulate which is a huge problem, and I predict this would cause readers to discontinue the series, and if not for the “TO BE CONTINUED” at the end of the story, perhaps they would not even suspect there was a third book because of that lack of drive and objective in the storyline. It’s because of this, I believe this series would have benefited to a very large degree, if Grant had combined this book with the third she is writing and cut out some of the smaller plotlines in "Symbiont".

That all being said, overall: I was disappointed with this novel. I had high expectations after having finished the first book "Parasite" which was one of my top two favourite books that I read in 2014. Perhaps it was my high expectations, but I know for sure, the third book "Chimera", has to be better than "Symbiont". It has to be. Logically. C’mon. Hence, I will write "Symbiont" off as having a serious case of middle-book syndrome, and wait patiently for what has to be a spectacular end to the "Parasite" series later this year.

BOOK REVIEW: "A Thousand Pieces of You" by Claudia Gray

1.5

Nothing hurts more than the sense of betrayal wrapped up in a gorgeous book cover and a more-than-promising blurb. Perhaps a 1.5 review is slightly harsh for Claudia Gray’s “A Thousand Pieces of You” (more truthfully “only five pieces of you”) and perhaps I'll regret that later and change it to two stars out of pity and a sense of inconsistency (I mean I did have the decency to give John Green’s “Paper Towns” two stars… on goodread), but honestly I can only award praise to this book for its premise. The book promised world class physicists, a dimension jumping story line, and a hot chase for vengeance. Sure enough, I was lured spectacularly into this book's clutches. Expecting a thrilling science-fiction tale, I was met with, poor characterization & character motivation, Romance with a capital R, and poorly written science-fiction full of plot holes that are probably more suited to the fantasy genre.

Firstly the protagonist, Marguerite, is completely irritating and a poor narrator voice. Her characterization is your typical headstrong heroine, where perhaps headstrong translates more closely to “frustratingly stubborn” in this case. I would normally not completely shun a character for being stubborn, but here, Marguerite’s stubbornness lacks any foundation whatsoever. The motivations that drive her stubbornness severely lack conviction, to the point where she goes from feeling murderous hate for Paul, the man who she believes killed her father, to falling in love with him in a matter of hours (It’s like 5 pages). No exaggeration. Literal zero to a hundred. Furthermore, Marguerite’s actions, fuelled by her non-grounded motivations completely lack reason or perhaps sufficient explanation on Gray’s behalf. Within the first chapter we are given Marguerite’s gripping vengeance plan which is to “KILL PAUL MARKOV” – and why? Because she thinks he killed her father, and literally no exaggeration on the “thinks”. I feel as though having pulled myself through 360 pages of this nonsense I should at least deserve an explanation of why Marguerite believes Paul is responsible for her father’s death and why she believes the only option to seek justice is to jump through dimensions to find Paul. These are certain vital connections that Marguerite makes between these events that Gray seems to brush over, which makes for a character that is unrelatable and infuriating to the reader.

Another downfall of this book has to be the YA Romance part of the novel. Don’t get me wrong, as much as I make fun of YA Romance on twitter, I usually don’t mind a romance in novels – despite its various flaws it’s quite sweet and I usually end up melting. But O! This book has taken it Up. A. Level. There is every wrongdoing in YA Romance in this book from the classic “Love Triangle” (or should it technically be “Love Pentagon” given Margeurite sees every dimensional being as a separate entity…) to the cringey Insta-love. It’s all in there, and its constantly there and in your face. Take the extract I instagrammed earlier this week (because it’s just that good):

“….we both reached for the tin foil at the same moment. Our hands touched, only for a second. No big deal. I’d been with him virtually every day for more than a year but in that instant, I saw Paul as someone new. It was as though I’d never understood the clarity of his eyes, or the strong lines of his face. As though his body had instantly stopped being large and ungainly and become strong. Masculine. Attractive. No. Hot.”

Now this isn’t even the most “Insta-love” part of the novel, despite Gray explicitly saying “in that instant” and “instantly”, I just simply included this extract to display exactly how Gray had written the romance in this novel: blind and melodramatic. Further on in the story when Marguerite falls in love with a different version of Paul (yep, this is a DIFFERENT person) she literally fauns over him and literally uses phrases like “I was in love with him” and “the man I love” despite the much larger issue at hand which, spoiler:(view spoiler). Honestly, girl. Set your priorities straight. 

And on that note, don’t be fooled by my shelfing this novel into my “science-fiction” shelf – this is YA Contemporary Romance above all other genres because, well, the science-fiction aspect of this novel is poorly executed. I mean sure – travelling between dimensions – it’s already a bit fantastical but it is supposed to be science-fiction, and not fantasy. In the fantasy genre, an author can get away with having a few plotholes because once you set up a fantasy world, the reader can fill those plotholes and brush over them because, usually: *magic*. But this isn’t feasible in science-fiction; as a reader, if there are discrepancies between reality and the science-fiction, they need to be accounted for. For example, it was explained in the novel that matter could not travel between dimensions, but rather energies such as consciousness can. This is simple enough, souls can travel through dimensions but bodies, and objects cannot. Despite this seemingly clear explanation however, Gray breaks this rule as the Firebird Necklace clearly travels through the dimensions. Additionally, when Marguerite returns to her own dimension eventually, she arrives in the same place she left suggesting that either her body arrived there with her consciousness, or that her body has been sitting there soulless in the same position for a month. So either Gray has disregarded the own world she had set up where, or she hadn’t sufficiently explained how Marguerite’s original body had survived foodless, and probably not breathing for a month without decomposing or her family finding her body lifeless and freaking out. If I, as the reader, am questioning such a vital part of the main premise of the book in such a way, that is a huge problem in science fiction – the book becomes un-real and utterly unbelievable. 

I believe probably the most potent reason I am so infuriated with this book is that it’s science-fiction premise held so much potential. I cannot exaggerate this enough:travelling between dimensions. SO COOL. But nonetheless, I digress. So all in all, I was thoroughly disappointed and thus: would not recommend.