Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

16 reviews

annafleaa's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

Spoilers. I was left feeling super un fulfilled at the end of this read. 

Upon further reflection I think that this story would be a much better LQBTQ story had it stayed with the original plot of a parasitic duel. This analogy really would have continued to deliver on the mind dissonance for a queer story. Instead it took a strange turn and became a bit of a trauma dump sci fi horror fueled plot that was unpleasantly sprung upon the reader. 

It was a particularly big bummer because the writing was pretty immersive and intriguing. The world building, though in depth fell occasionally flat and confusing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Spoiler

sam_emerson6's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual harassment

barometz's review

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

zeus_strider's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

I'll just say it first and foremost I am unapologetically a Parasite apologist! 

I found the beginning of this book to be utterly delightful and so charming, I love the Institute they were such a captivating character and I adored them as a protagonist, watching a hive mind unknowingly creep further into danger in this uncanny winter tundra was gold it would have been five Stars⭐ if they had remained the protagonist.

Somewhere in the middle of this dreadfully long track are poor Institute is sidelined as the antagonist before they are completely dropped as the POV character all together, while there is some merit to telling your story from antagonist perspective I believe there are much better works that showcase it.

As for the world building I found it to be rather delightful again in the beginning, it was all very odd and sprinkled in gingerly and just a touch of lovecraftian flair but then the book has a crisis of identity to be a to be horror or mystery, with most mysteries you want an answer but when it comes to horror answers can be a fatal. As for this book it chose to answer every question I didn't want answered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Police brutality

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

barf_mobile's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

ribbenkast's review

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

This book really impressed me with the way it is wirtten, Hiron Ennes really manages to write from the perspective of a super intelegent hivemind and sell it. The world building is amazing and is probably the best part of the book. It's got to be one of the most creative uses of the ghotic genre I've seen so far.

However the books suffers a bit from the gothic pitfall where in the first half it's just vibes and nothing much really happens. The pace really picks up near the ending though! Admittedly I do think the book ends on a bit of a weak note. I think there's space for a sequel I'll gladly pick up if it ever gets published. 

All in all, this was a great debut. I'll be certainly be on the lookout for any books that Hiron Ennes writes in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chezler24's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow! Hiron Ennes with an absolute knockout of a debut novel! This fed my love for Gothic science fiction and horror and left me wanting more. I'm excited to see what the author creates next. Here, they excellently craft this unsettling post-apocalyptic world which leaves just enough in question to disturb the reader while egging them along to learn more about its secrets. Ennes is able to tackle ideas surrounding identity, bodily autonomy, personal agency, and morality under the umbrella of this grotesque yet beautifully written story. 

(I should have finished this book a week ago, but headaches and a busy schedule halted me. If I wasn't hindered by those two things I would have absolutely torn through this book quicker than my timeline shows.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

krisalexcole's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

maimy_santiago99's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Confinement, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy