Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

27 reviews

sky_maris's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.75

Pros:
Beautifully written - the prose feels ripped from a Gothic novel but maintains its own modern twist. The narrative style shifts throughout, but in a wonderfully subtle way that you don't really notice until you're In It (TM). I was expecting a good old body horror romp when I started, but this is much more existential than that and I adored it. Leech is a perfect example of how horror can be used to explore difficult  concepts and make a point without losing the fundamental elements of the genre. I was creeped out the whole time while simultaneously pondering my own existence.

Cons:
The pacing is a tad slow, though never slow enough to become boring. The narrative style, particularly at the beginning, can be a tad hard to follow, but the author did an excellent job of orienting the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

dani_wasia's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

dellybear's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A stunning piece of literature that had me guessing till the very end. Loved every second of it. A fantastically unique main character, one entitity spread out over hundreds of bodies. Very gorey and tense. I enjoyed this book immensely. Lots of medical themes, wouldn't recommend if you can't handle parasites and medical scenarios.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Medical content, and Pregnancy

odunayo_y's review against another edition

dark mysterious

4.75

Would’ve been PEAK if not for the the imo weaker last 15%. Which was excellent for the horror aspect but narratively it was not as strong as The rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

asriram's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a decent novel. While I think it picked up more towards the end, and some of the themes this touched on were interesting, I feel like part of it bounced off of me a little bit. While I understood the overarching plot, some specific details in eluded me, and the beginning was a bit dull. That being said, Abigail Thorn did a fantastic job as the narrator, and the story was a fun listen. 3.5/5 stars overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

charlatte_lee's review

adventurous 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Infertility

leswampwitch's review

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I was thoroughly absorbed and totally loving the incredible world and fascinating characters that Hiron Ennes created. 

It was wonderfully atmospheric and overall a fabulous read.

However, I was disappointed with the last 100 pages or so. The story was metaphor rich, which ultimately fell flat at the end of the book when the metaphors and themes were laid out clearly for the reader, somewhat spoiling the metaphor, and in my experience, taking me out of the story all together.

I finished the book because I was almost finished with it anyway, but was very disappointed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

ghost_of_a_car's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Rape

whatthesquids's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma

50shadesofrae's review

dark hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

Gothic and weird (complimentary). The first 2/3 feels like a different book from the last 1/3? Somehow both hard science and haunted house logic. It’s a trip.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Self harm, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail