Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

2 reviews

voxvenati's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

Unique and goddamn refreshing. I earnestly cannot say I’ve read something like this before, and it was so very welcome.

So many of the things I could say in favor of this book are spoilers, but even the premise alone is a treat. I can’t express how often I’m let down after a promising synopsis and excellent first chapter. This was not one of those times.

Every chapter builds. Tension. Drama. Intrigue. Every character was crisp and distinct. Every nugget of world building fascinated me. The dialect of the locals. The fables. The history. I am left wanting. Ravenous for more.

It’s dense. It can be clinical at times. I loved it because it fits the narrative. And it does start to change.

I have never had a book reveal the narrator’s pronouns/gender so deep into the story, only to have me second guessing all my previous assumptions.

I have never had such a seamless experience reading about LGBTQ+ characters where they just are. It isn’t clumsy or ham-fisted. It’s natural. It’s real. It was so fucking good.

And my dear dead gods, the slow reveal of the post-apocalypse, that the Institute and Pseudomycota are a part of that of that too? Exquisite.

The only reason this wasn’t a full 5 stars is because I never got that overwhelming sense of dread. Still, pretty damn close.

This is all said with the understanding this is a horror. There are some difficult topics. There is medical horror, body horror, and all sorts of other things. Read the content warnings if you have triggers. 

But if the premise piques your interest, and if you’re not too squeamish, this is a must read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Minor: Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, and Cannibalism

sarah984'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

4.0

This book takes a bunch of gothic tropes (the opulent but crumbling manor haunted by past atrocities, the ailing patriarch grasping for control with his son and daughter-in-law squashed under his thumb, an outsider drawn into a terrible world they don't understand), drops them into a post apocalyptic future, and fills them to the brim with worms. I am not squeamish with descriptions usually but this one made me squirm a few times!

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.

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Content Warnings

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