Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

96 reviews

smitinghedgehog's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, and Medical content

apiecalypsejen's review

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Grief, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Violence, Suicide, Miscarriage, Child death, Animal death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Pregnancy, Murder, and Abandonment

krisalexcole's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Murder, Gun violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death

ohsunnyaa's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Body horror

Moderate: Rape and Child death

Minor: Misogyny

thayerbowen's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

It’s … confusing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Death, Gore, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage

gabbyfaw's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

Absolute banger. This is the first book in a long time that has been able to give me a nightmare, and it’s a debut no less! I’m super excited for this author is going to put out next. I highly recommend for anyone into science fiction, and/or body horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Minor: Sexual assault

hotdaddybiscuit's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

maimy_santiago99's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It's fast paced for a Gothic, but readers unfamiliar with the genre will probably find it slow. Takes a bit to get going, but that might be because I had to shift into a more scholarly frame of mind- the language of Gothic novels being deliberately a bit obtuse in modern novels in order to mimic the feel of the originals takes a bit more concentration to parse than your average SFF. 

A nice twist on the latest trend in Gothic horror, I found some of the more esoteric bits of world building a bit too puzzling to be creepy. I think the normally of people with their organs outside their bodies and with mechanical replacements, for example, could have been established as being completely ordinary and not unusual a bit earlier, though I don't know how without it becoming tedious and ruining that lovely opening. The mysteries abound and few are explored, though, and that pulled me out of the story a bit as things continued to tangle but very few threads came loose.

The queerness in the story is simultaneously entirely incidental and completely pervasive- a character with he/him pronouns who lactates and acted as a wet nurse presented and seen as just another person rather than a trans person or a genetic anomaly (I assume the former, but in the world of the novel it could easily be the latter), the androgyny of the narrator for the first half of the book, the almost neglectful acceptance of physical differences... It's clear that in this world, queerness of any stripe isn't a huge deal to anyone who doesn't desperately want heirs, to the point where it is ubiquitous and almost blasé in its presentation, but it still feels revolutionary in the world we live in.

The twins were a highlight for me, and I'd happily have read a version of this novel that centered on them instead of the doctor/narrator (which is not to say I didn't enjoy this version!)

All in all, an enjoyable debut. I'll keep an eye out for their sophomore effort. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Blood

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Confinement

owlishbookish's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Leech is quite possibly the most bizarre book I've ever read. I've been mulling over everything I just read since I closed the cover for the last time. The language and imagery were very compelling. There is such an atmosphere of foreboding and it has an almost Frankenstein-esque vibe, only even more grotesque. The identity of the narrator is very surprising and they are probably one of the most unreliable narrators I've ever experienced. It really does work for this story, though. The ending left me reeling and I know I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, and Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

ofbooksandechos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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 PTSD