Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
"Filled with scientific acuity and existential challenges in the tradition of Ghost In The Shell and Frankenstein, this medical fantasmagoria is a disorienting look into consciousness and will have you questioning the future of human evolution. New life begins at the cellular level, but when that cell contains restless mitochondria, it will aspire to be much more than just a speck in a Petri dish. Parasite Eve was the basis of a hugely popular videogame of the same name and has been cinematized in Japan, where the novel's smashing success helped set off a horror boom that has only been intensifying ever since." "When Dr. Nagashima loses his wife in a mysterious car crash, he is overwhelmed with grief but also an eerie sense of purpose; he becomes obsessed with the idea that he must reincarnate his dead wife. Her donated kidney is transplanted into a young girl with a debilitating disorder, but the doctor also feels compelled to keep a small sample of her liver in his laboratory. When these cells start mutating rapidly, a consciousness bent on determining its own fate awakes from an eonic sleep."--BOOK JACKET.
Parasite Eve: content & age rating
Intended for adult readers (18+).
This Japanese horror novel contains disturbing body horror elements involving cellular mutation and medical experimentation, along with themes of obsessive grief that drive ethically questionable scientific decisions. The philosophical and existential content is complex and unsettling.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death of a loved one, grief, and body horror (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Adult readers fascinated by scientific horror that questions the nature of consciousness and human evolution will find this deeply unsettling.