Reviews with content warning for Death - Leech

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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lanid's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense

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

5.0

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iamdr_rn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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thehmkane's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

Every hour or so, this book delivered a line or a concept or an event that made me think, gee, this it the genderiest book I've ever read. That holds true to the end. It's complex. It's unsettling. And it is determinedly not cis.

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nniikkaa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

4.75

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abc27's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Absolute praise for the narrator Abigail Thorn! She brought this book to life with her varying range and talent thrown into the narration. I tried to find every excuse to listen to the audiobook. This book was dark, twisty, with just the smallest smidge of body horror. There was so much care in each word placed on the page; many of which will stick with you. Like come on, a parasite taking over humans, a doctor desperately trying to find answers, and a gothic setting.

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