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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.
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.
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 scenefoofymcgriddle's review against another edition
4.0
was that the blast of 97???
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
enchantressreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
3.5
“A corpse, especially a fresh one, is a fine gift for my laboratories.”
I usually prefer to read shorter books, but this is the rare exception that I wish the book was longer. At 336 pages, I felt that there was still so much unexplored that could have been fleshed out. Because of this, I’ve given Leech a moderate 3.5 star rating. Not bad, as I did enjoy the story, but I wanted so much more out of it.
A doctor who is part of the Interprovincial Medical Institute makes the journey to Chateau de Verdira to find out why one of its bodies has died. The doctors of the Institute are connected as part of a hive mind, but it seems this one has gone off on their own. The Institute’s bodies are sexless, nameless humanoids whose only job is to be doctors. When Doc gets to the chateau, however, they find that the doctor, who named himself Stanislas, has a mysterious fungus or pathogen growing in his eyeball. This caused him to take his own life.
There was so much to this novel, that it felt rushed. As soon as you got into one part of the story, it quickly moved to another part. The general plot was very interesting, and we all know I love a good microbe story, but it definitely felt lost. It was reminiscent of the gothic age, and having read What Moves the Dead recently, I had pretty high hopes. This wasn’t my favorite novel, but I still want to recommend it to anyone who loves fungus as much as I do, as well as a nice gothic story.
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
CW for body horror, death, animal death, suicide, human experimentation, domestic violence, blood, graphic birth scene, animal cruelty, emotional abuse, death of a child, disease, and fire
I usually prefer to read shorter books, but this is the rare exception that I wish the book was longer. At 336 pages, I felt that there was still so much unexplored that could have been fleshed out. Because of this, I’ve given Leech a moderate 3.5 star rating. Not bad, as I did enjoy the story, but I wanted so much more out of it.
A doctor who is part of the Interprovincial Medical Institute makes the journey to Chateau de Verdira to find out why one of its bodies has died. The doctors of the Institute are connected as part of a hive mind, but it seems this one has gone off on their own. The Institute’s bodies are sexless, nameless humanoids whose only job is to be doctors. When Doc gets to the chateau, however, they find that the doctor, who named himself Stanislas, has a mysterious fungus or pathogen growing in his eyeball. This caused him to take his own life.
There was so much to this novel, that it felt rushed. As soon as you got into one part of the story, it quickly moved to another part. The general plot was very interesting, and we all know I love a good microbe story, but it definitely felt lost. It was reminiscent of the gothic age, and having read What Moves the Dead recently, I had pretty high hopes. This wasn’t my favorite novel, but I still want to recommend it to anyone who loves fungus as much as I do, as well as a nice gothic story.
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.
CW for body horror, death, animal death, suicide, human experimentation, domestic violence, blood, graphic birth scene, animal cruelty, emotional abuse, death of a child, disease, and fire
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Body horror, and Child death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse
human experimentation, graphic birth scenerhiannonafternoon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
4.5
I listened on audio (fantastic narrator) but due to the nature of the book being almost an arguement inside of a person with multiple voices/connections etc, it was a little hard to follow at times. I could see some line breaks in a text copy making it easier to read.
That said, this book was a wild ride. This kind of strikes me like Donnie Darko in that it’s a thinker - you could read this a few times and potentially pick up on new aspects of this parasite and how all of the people in the manor react to the situation.
Imagining my brain being connected to other bodies I could see out of, think with, and talk to as if they were my own is a really interesting concept. Human internet.
A really fascinating read.
That said, this book was a wild ride. This kind of strikes me like Donnie Darko in that it’s a thinker - you could read this a few times and potentially pick up on new aspects of this parasite and how all of the people in the manor react to the situation.
Imagining my brain being connected to other bodies I could see out of, think with, and talk to as if they were my own is a really interesting concept. Human internet.
A really fascinating read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcohol
feedthewriter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.5
I have no idea how to talk about this book! I went in having read absolutely nothing about it, including the synopsis, and I think I enjoyed the experience all the more for it. But this book definitely isn't going to be for everyone, so I'll try to say something about it without saying anything about it.
Leech is a weird, literary, gothic sci-fi horror -- a stunning blend of genres -- that reminds me a little of Mary Shelley, a little of Jeff Vandermeer, a little of Sara A. Mueller and a little of Chana Porter.
It's a book that requires a lot of patience and attention to detail. If you skim any page, you're going to get lost real quick, because important information isn't repeated and the world-building is so subtle that most of it is seeded through conversation and one-off observations. Very little is explained (or answered), with the author trusting you to understand what's happening off of context clues -- refreshing for some, but potentially frustrating for others. And if you need characters and locations to be meticulously described, this isn't going to be the book for you.
But if you can deal with doing a little extra work as a reader, it's well worth the effort. Leech is spooky, strange, sad, gory and inventive as hell. I loved the time I spent with it, and I can tell it's going to live in my brain for a long time.
I received this book as a digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to TOR and NetGalley!
Leech is a weird, literary, gothic sci-fi horror -- a stunning blend of genres -- that reminds me a little of Mary Shelley, a little of Jeff Vandermeer, a little of Sara A. Mueller and a little of Chana Porter.
It's a book that requires a lot of patience and attention to detail. If you skim any page, you're going to get lost real quick, because important information isn't repeated and the world-building is so subtle that most of it is seeded through conversation and one-off observations. Very little is explained (or answered), with the author trusting you to understand what's happening off of context clues -- refreshing for some, but potentially frustrating for others. And if you need characters and locations to be meticulously described, this isn't going to be the book for you.
But if you can deal with doing a little extra work as a reader, it's well worth the effort. Leech is spooky, strange, sad, gory and inventive as hell. I loved the time I spent with it, and I can tell it's going to live in my brain for a long time.
I received this book as a digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to TOR and NetGalley!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Body horror, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Gore
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