A review by sarah984
Leech by Hiron Ennes

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

4.0

This book takes a bunch of gothic tropes (the opulent but crumbling manor haunted by past atrocities, the ailing patriarch grasping for control with his son and daughter-in-law squashed under his thumb, an outsider drawn into a terrible world they don't understand), drops them into a post apocalyptic future, and fills them to the brim with worms. I am not squeamish with descriptions usually but this one made me squirm a few times!

I really enjoyed this book's themes of identity and autonomy, and the use of language to denote the state of the main character is fantastic, however I dropped a star because I felt the ending was kind of weak and I don't like tropes that involve a race of people being genetically predisposed to certain knowledge and this winds up doing that a bit. Overall though, if you want something original and you've got a strong stomach I would heartily recommend it.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Cannibalism

Parasite/bug/worm content Mind control Graphic birth scene