The Parasites - Book Review

Marjorie DeLuca's The Parasites (The Iduna Project Book 2) grabbed hold of my imagination and didn't let go. While I enjoyed reading The Forever Ones (Book 1), DeLuca's storytelling shines in Parasites. The plot is tighter and the characters are better developed.  I loved the growth shown by Paige, the main character. And I had some serious character love going for Crime Lord Antoine.  But my favorite part of this book was the action - there was a lot of it - and it gets really intense.  This is where DeLuca shined.  I enjoy an action-packed movie that has me on the edge of my seat and while reading The Parasites, I could see the scenes - the explosions, the carnage - and I loved it!

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Review of The Forever Ones by Marjorie DeLuca

Amazon Book Description:

Paige is a forever, genetically altered to stay nineteen forever and live in the secret Iduna Corp compound, a place where age reversal and immortality has been perfected. Forevers are told to live for the moment.. Be what you want to be for a while and when you get sick of it – be something else. But when her friends start disappearing Paige suspects there’s a darker side to their luxurious prison. The official word is they’ve been kidnapped by criminals on the outside who want to use them as feeders. Feeders have a short and brutal life – kept in captivity and sucked dry of all their youth cells so the Crime Lords can enjoy eternal youth. Her friend Junius involves her in planning a daring escape from the compound so they can infiltrate the IdunaCorp organization and find out what’s really happening to their missing friends. They’re joined by the charismatic and musical Chale, a Keener whose attraction to Paige causes tension between her and Junius. What will they find on the outside? How has the quest for immortality changed humanity? The journey becomes so dangerous Paige is forced to push herself to the limits of her endurance and to make tough decisions about who she can trust – Junius or Chale.

What I thought:

We can't turn on the television without seeing a product which promises to reverse the signs of aging.  Marjorie DeLuca takes this obsession and carries it to the next level.  She creates a world where old age is scorned, where youth is prized above all else, where immortality has been achieved.  DeLuca offers a cast of interesting characters.  The main character, Paige is a forever - a genetically altered being who comes to the realization that nothing is as it seems.  While I wish that some of the others had been fleshed out a bit more, the characters of Chale and Junius were quite intriguing.  The chemistry between Chale and Paige/Junius and Paige adds to the tale. The story moves at a quick pace and while I questioned the ease at which the Forevers were able to assimilate and overcome the challenges they faced, DeLuca offered something rare - a couple twists and turns that I never saw coming.  I enjoyed the novel and look forward to the sequel.

My Rating: 

The Forever Ones (The Iduna Project, Volume One)

By:   Marjorie DeLuca 

Published:  July 12, 2013

236 pages