Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

12 reviews

sky_maris's review against another edition

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

zeus_strider's review

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

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

 

Context:

I added Leech by Hiron Ennes to my TBR after hearing Kayla from BooksandLala recommend it. I borrowed it from my library through the Libby app.

 

Review:

I approached Leech with some trepidation based on the reviews I’ve encountered. However, I am immensely impressed by the book’s originality—in fact, Leech is one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. I mean that as a compliment. Ennes crafts a world completely unlike anything I’ve ever read before with the precision of a surgeon. Everything feels deliberate and focused, from the French-inspired dialect spoken by some of the characters to the peculiarities of the setting. They use this specific setting and cast of characters to explore parasitism in many different forms, from the supernatural to the everyday.  I am also impressed with the book’s writing style, which is powerful and effective without being flowery. 

 

Despite my fascination with the world and my appreciation for Ennes’s writing, I did find myself somewhat reluctant to pick up the book at times. The book does not provide a strong “hook” for the reader to latch onto, either narratively or through its characters. Even well into the book, it is unclear which characters, if any, deserve our sympathy. Additionally, the narrative style of the book is inherently confusing due to the protagonist’s situation (I’m being intentionally vague here to avoid spoilers), and the murky positions of the side characters. If you’re looking for a book that prioritizes clarity and accessibility, you might want to look elsewhere.

 

There are a couple of other minor aspects of this book that didn’t quite work for me. The first is that it uses two characters that are twins in a very stereotypical and dehumanizing manner common to horror books that, in my opinion, did not add much to the story. The second is that the ending appears to abandon the character journey of the protagonist for another character; I would have liked a little bit more closure for the protagonist.

 

Leech will not be for everyone, but I loved its thematic explorations, writing style, and unique premise and worldbuilding. These elements were strong enough to overcome some problems I had with the narrative. 

 

The Run-Down: 

You might like Leech if . . . 

·      You are looking for a book with a very unique premise and world

·      You prefer deliberately crafted settings and characters to sweeping, epic fantasy/sci-fi tales

·      You are interested in a thematic exploration of parasitism

·      You like eerie, gory horror stories that do not deign to explain everything to the reader

 

You might not like Leech if . . . 

·      You are sensitive to the book’s triggers (please look at them before reading; they won’t spoil anything!)

·      You dislike experimental narrative premises

·      You like a story with a strong narrative driving force

·      You dislike complex plotlines that leave many questions unanswered

 

 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, and Vomit

Minor: Ableism, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, and Classism

bumblebeefarts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Infertility, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Classism

Minor: Chronic illness, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

mrkusabi's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Classism

ribbenkast's review against another edition

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

gilroi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 I feel strange for not having more to say about this book, other than it's genuinely some of the best speculative fiction / fantasy / scifi / horror (pick one) I've read in years. It's a smooth, sleek little novel that knows exactly what it's doing and does it. While it's not perfect, I can't think of any flaw great enough to bring up in this review.

I think what I appreciate most about this novel is how much it trusts its readers, how confident it is with what it's trying to do. The twists aren't mindfucks, all reveals are telegraphed well in advance. Every change seems earned, all the dread is meaningful, and in the last sliver of the novel it goes from genre to literary, elegantly straddling both qualifiers to say something interesting, detailed, new, and worthwhile about identity, colonialism, gender, and medicine.

I cannot recommend it enough if you like a story bright with darkness, full of intention, inventive prose, lush worldbuilding, and smart narration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Colonisation

Minor: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, and War

harpysnark'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

5.0

This book answers the question, what if Tamsyn Muir wrote a gothic horror novel set in a post-apocalyptic society as told by a hivemind symbiote? It's gross, it's cryptic, it's heartbreaking. I fucking loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Vomit, and Grief

fangirljeanne's review against another edition

DNF
I was really enjoying aspects of the story and the audiobook narration by Abigail Thorne is fantastic, but the excessive and unnecessary (imo) anti-fatness kept taking me out of the story. It’s the classic the mean, bigoted, rich white guy is fat and is always described in exaggerated details explicitly depicting his fatness not only as disgusting but symbolic of his internal corruption. 

Otherwise it’s a wonderful exploration of identity and a fun take on parasites and body horror with liberal dashes of dark humor.

Such a shame. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Racism, and Xenophobia

vulgarboy's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Something in this had a grip on my throat that refused to let me go, and I am so glad it didn't. I thought I knew what I was getting into- a weird A Cure For Wellness retelling or something tht drew inspiration from it. Good god was I wrong. There was so much in this that scratched such a specific itch for me, it was incredible. A bizarre post-apocalytic world where humanity is trying to regain their footing, folklore being retold and genuinely being real in this world, humans integrating machinery (that had lead to the apocalypse itself) into their bodies so they can keep living. Characters are so brutally human, their actions so sorrowfully believable. It's not so clogged with medical jargon that I, who has no knowledge of anything medically in-depth, couldn't keep up. I found myself unable to put this down. What a delightfully freaky little book this was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Gore

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Sexual assault