Reviews with content warning for Gore - Leech

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

74 reviews

baitygillespie's review against another edition

2.0

first half: unique narration, suspenseful medical mystery, wild cast of characters
second half: traumatic, but not in a scary way. i feel slimy having read it at all

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rozanne_visagie's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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thayerbowen's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

It’s … confusing

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guylc's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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wandering_not_lost's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

4.0

I was drawn into this book by the promise of a weird parasitic doctor and really, my only regret is that there wasn't more of them.

This was an interesting book, with a really fascinating use of...shifting points of view? unreliable narrator? little of both? The non-spoilery reasons are that even once I fully understood what the Institute was, the author deftly took the camera and turned it around, pulling back the curtain on the charming and solicitous main character I first met and showing the darkness underneath. It was done very delicately and felt very natural (which was a nice change from Nona the Ninth, which I read immediately before and felt was using POV and unreliable narrators as a too-restrictive straight jacket to keep the reader needlessly guessing.)

I did like the choice of having the main character be, essentially, a monster, as you slowly understand the Institute to be, and I think this is the first book I've ever read where the same "person" was both the antagonist and protagonist at varying points.

I also liked the book's setting - the reader slowly is introduced to the idea that this is set in some sort of far-future post-apocalyptic world where war or accident destroyed civilization and blasted folks back underground for generations before they climbed back out and re-captured what they could of humanity's technology. As a result, the book reads kind of steampunkishly, with trains and dirigibles and clockwork hearts, but there's also bits of technology scattered about: ancient automated weapon systems, scavenged plastics and alloys. The setting also plays with gender in a way you don't see often: the reader isn't really given one for the main character until about halfway through the book, and you have mention of what we'd consider trans characters, such as a character with he pronouns who talks about being a wet nurse. It's nice to see this dealt with by almost all the characters in a very matter-of-fact way: the characters and the story doesn't belabor it, so it's just a part of the world.

I did find the first half of the book more interesting than the second, though, so that's why this is 4 rather than 5 stars for me.

I am a sucker for calm, competent monsters, so I was sorry to see the Institute's pov go in favor of Simone's more conventional escape story. I also was just less interested in the more mundane (still horrible, but mundane) secrets and sins of the chateau's family. Emile's story also felt like it came out a little too late, and was kind of too convenient in how it created a way for him and Simone to escape (...he set up explosives all through the house? Really?). And the scientist in me rolled my eyes, as usual, at gunshot wounds being treated as no big thing! Shot in the shoulder? No big deal, surely I can just go cross-country skiing for literally days right afterwards, with no real treatment, right?

Still, I was entertained, and though it was a weird little book that kept its cards tight to its chest sometimes, after reading Nona the Ninth, this book was downright cake.

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cold_boy's review

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dark emotional 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

I adored this book. I never would have thought a Victorian Gothic horror could ever mesh with post-apocalyptic sci-fi, yet here we are. The story and the world are so meaty and dense and bizarre. Having read quite a bit of sci-fi, I can say Ennes is a master of introducing elements of a world in a way that doesn't feel jarring, and fully explaining the elements without it breaking the pacing or making it feel like the author is personally explaining the world to the audience.

This is the horror novel I've been craving for a very long time.

Bonus audiobook narration review: I didn't realize Abigail Thorn was the narrator until I hit play, which was a pleasant surprise but I worried my familiarity with her work would distract me from the narration. Fortunately that wasn't a problem, and she absolutely embodied the characters (especially our nameless protagonist). While sometimes she came across as a bit inexperienced, I hope she keeps doing narration, because she has a very expressive and unique voice.

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owlishbookish's review against another edition

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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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