Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

17 reviews

bea_reads_books's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Child death, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Animal cruelty, and Violence

Minor: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Classism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Vomit

bumblebeefarts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Miscarriage, Infertility, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, and Classism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Chronic illness

athenian_frog's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.25

The book can get very slow but when the horror kicks in it’s usually pretty engaging. My main issue is with the lulls in between, especially in the first half of the book.

BUT think there’s some really interesting reflection from the perspective of such a complex organism that Hiron Ennes includes! That and the character of Émile in general were highlights. The story went in a direction I was really not expecting—in a good way—and the ending was pretty rewarding.

Some of the ideas that strengthen the conclusion that I found in the book—like the value of one’s bodily autonomy—could have been better weaved throughout the book but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

PLEASE READ the content warnings below. Thanks! <3

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Violence, Vomit, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

-the baron’s family (whose mansion is where the majority of the book takes place) generally holds pretty misogynistic beliefs of a woman’s role in the family, specifically that they are “responsible” for having children/a son in particular -a female character has a history of miscarrying, makes one or two dark jokes about it -descriptions of medical procedures that might upset readers including: several instances of needle insertion in various places, sedated/paralyzed patients during a procedure, often without consent, the removal of a parasite fragment from the optic nerve post mortem, descriptions of childbirth - suicide is examined as a possible and very plausible reason that a character dies (via scalpel to the throat) -In the latter half of the book it is implied that a character ends up in an emotionally abusive relationship with a member of the barony. The sex they have (very vague) reads very much as coercive/non consensual because of the power the barony holds over the rest of the people living in the chateau. There are moments of physical abuse as well. - at least two characters vomit, and a couple more have something crawl out of their mouth

danimacuk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Drug use, and Grief

chezler24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow! Hiron Ennes with an absolute knockout of a debut novel! This fed my love for Gothic science fiction and horror and left me wanting more. I'm excited to see what the author creates next. Here, they excellently craft this unsettling post-apocalyptic world which leaves just enough in question to disturb the reader while egging them along to learn more about its secrets. Ennes is able to tackle ideas surrounding identity, bodily autonomy, personal agency, and morality under the umbrella of this grotesque yet beautifully written story. 

(I should have finished this book a week ago, but headaches and a busy schedule halted me. If I wasn't hindered by those two things I would have absolutely torn through this book quicker than my timeline shows.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Gore

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Dysphoria, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

a1exander's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Medical content, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement

nsaphra's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

Why isn’t everyone talking about this book?? I’m obsessed, this book is sickening. It’s a gothic horror narrated by a HIVEMIND that controls every doctor in the world. It has all my favorite horror elements:
- body horror
- philosophical “what is the self” horror
- medical paranoia (who’s infected? Every detail feels like foreshadowing)
- unsettling nonhuman perspective

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Violence, Death, Suicide, Body horror, and Chronic illness

harpybuns's review against another edition

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

5.0

This book answers the question, what if Tamsyn Muir wrote a gothic horror novel set in a post-apocalyptic society as told by a hivemind symbiote? It's gross, it's cryptic, it's heartbreaking. I fucking loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Infertility

Minor: Animal cruelty, Grief, Vomit, and Gun violence

seawarrior's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

Skin-crawingly disturbing and one of the most brilliant novels I've read. Leech begins as gothic science fiction with wildly creative atmosphere and worldbuilding, then seemlessly twists into a horror story about lack of bodily autonomy. It's a scream, a vengeance, and a triumph. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Physical abuse

unboxedjack's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Medical content, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Sexual assault