Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

12 reviews

dani_wasia's review against another edition

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

wordswritinstarlight's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book fucks supremely as a horror story. The Institute is a twisted knot of self-justifications and self-righteousness, the residents of the chateau are all compelling disasters, I really do think the twins were dead all along, and the newfound parasite is just [chef kiss] horrifying, 10/10 monster, will keep me up at night. 

The move of making Pseudomycota essentially heat-activated is a fantastic twist, especially after half the book resting on the Institute’s confidence and general genre tropes that “kill it with fire” is always the right answer.  The moment of realization that this battle was always over, from the moment they threw the first body into the furnace, really worked for me.

 Highly recommended if you have the stomach for truly buckwild levels of body horror.  Would especially recommend to anyone who really loved the Animorphs as a kid: the situations are wildly different and yet the vibes are very much the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

liltakeawaygirl's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Vomit, Grief, and Colonisation

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

hmstaab's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Excrement, and Colonisation

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

thehmkane's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Stillbirth

catwhisperer's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

chris_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

I haven't read anything quite like this in my life. There were so many interesting concepts (some of which surely went over my head) it was so smart. The writing was delightfully disturbing in its depiction of disease, isolation and the harsh environment. The characters were layered and utterly fascinating. Love what it had to say about parasites, capitalism, power and agency. I can't wait to see what else this author writes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hellocath's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, and Colonisation