Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Leech by Hiron Ennes

30 reviews

cadence99's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.25

A twisty turny fever dream like read. Liked this overall, though the ending felt a bit lackluster and not in keeping with the rest of the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Ableism, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Medical content

awainwright's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Medical content

hmstaab's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

fionamclary's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.75

This book has one of the most fascinating concepts I've ever encountered. I spent the first chapter so confused about what was going on, and then the next chapter cleared it all up and I was floored, and so excited to see how the premise would develop. It did not disappoint. Leech is a clever, fierce, and disturbing exploration of the ways in which people have their bodily autonomy taken from them and they ways in which they take it back. It also raises the question of to what degree our bodies are truly our own.

I often struggle with stand-alone SFF because I find that there is not enough room for the requisite world-building, but Hiron Ennes populated this book with numerous small lines that fit seamlessly into the narrative and yet did wonders to flesh out the world.

I did find that the pacing changed rather suddenly about 2/3 of the way through, from a contemplative dread punctuated by brief bursts of action, to suddenly everything kicking off, with revelations and major plot developments happening left and right. This sharp change is my only real quibble with the book.

Bonus: This book has a nonspeaking major character who is never portrayed as needing to be "fixed." There's also just casually a trans old man side character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape

Minor: Suicide, Gore, and Miscarriage

crispr_breadboard's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

4.5

Brilliant. The pacing of the book at times can be meandering, with the poetic prose heavy in the first half of the book. But boy, the incredible way they illustrated bodily autonomy, from so many different lenses. The political pressures and historical colonialism they sprinkled in to bring color and complexity to a world, when the plot at its heart was focused on unraveling a medical mystery. I loved the excellent world-building. I loved the depth and nuances in character development. I loved the medical clues and slow unravel to reveal the origin(s) of the disease(s) that started it all. The messages were not missed. They were potent and powerful. Thoroughly enjoyed this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

jo_schmo_1848's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Medical content, Violence, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

samsquanch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Rape, Child death, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

a1exander's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Medical content, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement

ichewonpushpins's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Medical content, Sexual violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Fatphobia

Horrible Gothic horror brutality told with a dry, clinical tone. This book was a bizarre and shockingly violent ride.

xxoorbweaverxx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

SPOILERS AHEAD

Leech by Hiron Ennes is a gothic sci-fi novel about a medical network of doctors all a part of a hive mind parasite that takes over the minds of young capable host children and grooms them into doctors who continue to spread and parasitize humanity through the guise of monopolizing the medical care industry. The setting is an incredibly wealthy winterlocked chateau and the neighboring town and indigenous people who have been subjugated by a cruel dying Baron, his deceivingly soft-spoken adult son, the son’s neglected pregnant wife, and their two twin daughters. As a doctor from The Institute arrives at the chateau to pick up where its predecessor left off (before mysteriously disappearing and disconnecting from the network) The Institute slowly begin to realize they are competing with an equally intelligent pathogen called Pseudomycota, and the struggle for power is fought within the body of the doctor and a young, mute servant boy who has been groomed and sexually assaulted for years by the Baron’s son (who was in love with the boy’s mother before he was born) with no way to speak up about his abuse. The hosts of these parasites struggle for bodily autonomy in a narrative that is riddled with many different voices ambiguously sharing the same minds. It is a beautiful and complex story about imperialism, generational trauma, pathology and infectious disease, and the difference between loving someone and wanting to possess them.

I believe that the Baron’s son Didier is the character who disturbed me the most. His coercive- relationships with two generations of the same family, a woman and a boy who’s heritage is indigenous to the land and on whose people, Didier’s father commit genocide. Didier disguises his abuse of Emile, the young servant boy, behind a veneer of politeness and a reputation for being a wimp, but behind closed doors he isn’t satisfied without tormenting the son of the woman he loved who his father murdered in cold blood.

Hiron Ennes captivated me and disturbed me in this nuanced and vivid nightmare. You will yearn for these characters freedom as much as you yearn for their vengeance. I promise all the spoilers in this review cannot prepare you for the contents of this amazing break out first novel. It took me months to write this review, yet the plot and characters stayed deeply written on my mind and I wanted to share how it touched me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Genocide, Child abuse, and Sexual violence