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jully_bean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Body horror, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Suicide, Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Medical content
justinecm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Gun violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Genocide, and Alcohol
pantaruja's review
2.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Rape, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Genocide, Suicide, Drug use, Dysphoria, Ableism, and Alcoholism
cgbn's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Xenophobia, Vomit, Torture, Body horror, Genocide, Violence, and Suicide attempt
xxoorbweaverxx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Leech by Hiron Ennes is a gothic sci-fi novel about a medical network of doctors all a part of a hive mind parasite that takes over the minds of young capable host children and grooms them into doctors who continue to spread and parasitize humanity through the guise of monopolizing the medical care industry. The setting is an incredibly wealthy winterlocked chateau and the neighboring town and indigenous people who have been subjugated by a cruel dying Baron, his deceivingly soft-spoken adult son, the son’s neglected pregnant wife, and their two twin daughters. As a doctor from The Institute arrives at the chateau to pick up where its predecessor left off (before mysteriously disappearing and disconnecting from the network) The Institute slowly begin to realize they are competing with an equally intelligent pathogen called Pseudomycota, and the struggle for power is fought within the body of the doctor and a young, mute servant boy who has been groomed and sexually assaulted for years by the Baron’s son (who was in love with the boy’s mother before he was born) with no way to speak up about his abuse. The hosts of these parasites struggle for bodily autonomy in a narrative that is riddled with many different voices ambiguously sharing the same minds. It is a beautiful and complex story about imperialism, generational trauma, pathology and infectious disease, and the difference between loving someone and wanting to possess them.
I believe that the Baron’s son Didier is the character who disturbed me the most. His coercive- relationships with two generations of the same family, a woman and a boy who’s heritage is indigenous to the land and on whose people, Didier’s father commit genocide. Didier disguises his abuse of Emile, the young servant boy, behind a veneer of politeness and a reputation for being a wimp, but behind closed doors he isn’t satisfied without tormenting the son of the woman he loved who his father murdered in cold blood.
Hiron Ennes captivated me and disturbed me in this nuanced and vivid nightmare. You will yearn for these characters freedom as much as you yearn for their vengeance. I promise all the spoilers in this review cannot prepare you for the contents of this amazing break out first novel. It took me months to write this review, yet the plot and characters stayed deeply written on my mind and I wanted to share how it touched me.
Moderate: Rape, Genocide, Child abuse, and Sexual violence
ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Body horror
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical content, Blood, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Genocide and Alcohol
CW: loss of body autonomy, dissociation and PTSDlanid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Genocide, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Infidelity
captcapy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Violence, Gore, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Rape, Medical content, Child death, and Infertility
Minor: Genocide
sarah984's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I really enjoyed this book's themes of identity and autonomy, and the use of language to denote the state of the main character is fantastic, however I dropped a star because I felt the ending was kind of weak and I don't like tropes that involve a race of people being genetically predisposed to certain knowledge and this winds up doing that a bit. Overall though, if you want something original and you've got a strong stomach I would heartily recommend it.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Misogyny, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Genocide
Parasite/bug/worm content Mind control Graphic birth scene