Mira Grant: "Overgrowth" (ARC Review)

Title: Overgrowth [on Amazon | on Amazon UK | on Goodreads] (Note: I got my copy from the UK-based publisher Daphne Press, so I'm using the UK cover and I'm linking to Amazon UK along with Amazon.com)
Series: None
Author: Mira Grant [Site* | Goodreads]
   *[Note: as I'm writing this review, the Mira Grant site hasn't been updated for a few years]
Genres: Sci-Fi
Year: 2025
Age: 18+ (but it can be read by mature teens)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Fascinating, thought-provoking, refreshingly diverse (trans rep, Mexican-American rep).
Cons: The main conflict and the ending may feel problematic to some, depending on how one reads them. 
WARNING! Toddler death (on page), transphobia, death/violence/guns, blood and gore/vampirism, imprisonment, bug horror.
Will appeal to: Those who like first-contact narratives with a twist. Those who enjoy stories of outsiders and found families. Those who are fascinated by alt-biology scenarios.

Blurb: Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has believed her. Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia's biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child. What happens when you know what's coming, and just refuse to listen? (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Daphne Press for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

PLANTED

In the vein of classics like Little Shop of Horrors, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Day of the Triffids, but with a huge twist (the point of view here is the alien's), Mira Grant's return to full-length fiction is a first-contact-meets-coming-of-age story packed with thought-provoking questions and social/cultural commentary. Set in a very near future (2031) over the span of a month, it chronicles the days preceding a plantlike alien armada's invasion of our planet, and the invasion itself, through the eyes of a hybrid character - alien in nature, human in appearance and by nurture - who both knows (and states) she's an alien and at times doubts she's deeply deluded...but mostly, simply, KNOWS. Then again, she has a lot of questions about herself and her origins, especially because more than thirty years have passed since when she allegedly fell on Earth and claimed the body of three-years-old Anastasia, and her people - who equipped her with a compulsion to announce their invasion plans - are taking their sweet time coming back for her. [...]

BOUQUET

One of Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire's strengths is the ability to create fleshed out, complex characters who often straddle the line between "human" and "monster" in different ways (just think of her InCryptid series), yet are surprisingly easy to empathise with. Stasia is no exception, and being in her head while she tries to reconcile her Earthly upbringing with her burgeoning alien nature (no pun intended) both entertains and elicit questions about what it means to be human, or simply, to belong - especially if, as it's the case here, you don't like the human race much as a whole, but love some of its specimens a great deal. On the other hand, Stasia's dilemma is also that of her friends', every one of which used to have a different stance on her alleged alien nature, and now must not only put their beliefs in perspective, but also decide if they want to be allies and risk their very life to have Stasia's back. I loved the nuanced, complicated found family of lovers, friends and accidental associates at the core of the story (also, this wouldn't be a Grant book without a mad scientist of sorts whom you can root for and be annoyed at and find funny in equal measure 😂), and the discourse about identity and the different shades in which otherness may come (I can't speak for a group I'm not a part of, but personally, I found the trans-man rep to be handled with utmost care and empathy).

THORNS

Besides being a story about humanity and lack thereof, nature and nurture, and the fine line between the two pairs, Overgrowth can (I'll go as far as to say "ought to") be read as an allegory of colonialism and its acting under the pretense of having a higher moral ground than the people (here, planet) it decides to subjugate. And granted, Grant's near future is anything but a utopia - among other things, she touches upon climate change and the proverbial under-the-rug approach to such issue (does it sound familiar?). Only, if we draw a parallel between the alien invasion and your average human ones, we run into a problem...despite the rationale behind the first (which follows an articulate, yet somehow simplistic pattern you'll have to read the book to discover), in reality no one "asks" or deserves to be invaded. So you have to take the parallel between the alien armada and a military force taking over a real country with a grain of salt. 

Apart from this potentially problematic point, I do have a couple of quibbles about the plot - for instance, a certain twist hinges on the government's not knowing who Stasia's friends are (not very likely), and we're left with questions about some of her family members (cat included), especially one who only gets mentioned for a specific purpose and is never heard of again. Anyhow, nothing that managed to impact my enjoyment of the story on a significant level. Imaginative worldbuilding/aliens, mad biology you can absolutely buy into (I'm in awe), well-rounded and mostly lovable characters, striking sociopolitical commentary and a bold epilogue that you probably won't see coming: welcome back, Mira Grant - it was worth the wait.

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US cover