Leech by Hiron Ennes

⭐️⭐️💫

I liked: the premise, the way the main character developed, the mystery behind the way the doctor died and how to stop it from happening again.

I didn't like: confusing at times, several parts that seemed to drag, emphasis on several characters that didn’t seem to matter to the story, emphasis on other characters where it wasn’t clear who they even were, open ended ending, the last part of the book seemed almost too easy.. for the institute to be this almighty force it just didn’t add up for me how things played out.

This book had an interesting start, then slow burn almost dnf, plugged along and got interesting again, slow..almost dnf again, plugged along and interesting, then slow again! And one last stretch of interesting… then slow but too far to not finish and..finish. Talk about ups and downs, then a bit of disappointment at the end had me asking, “That’s it?” and checking for more pages.

It wasn’t one of my favorites but there were some good parts. Readers who love gothic horror, enjoy slow reads, and really taking their time—and head hopping, might want to give this one a try.

Here's the blurb:

In an isolated chateau, as far north as north goes, the baron’s doctor has died. The doctor’s replacement has a mystery to solve: discovering how the Institute lost track of one of its many bodies.

For hundreds of years the Interprovincial Medical Institute has grown by taking root in young minds and shaping them into doctors, replacing every human practitioner of medicine. The Institute is here to help humanity, to cure and to cut, to cradle and protect the species from the apocalyptic horrors their ancestors unleashed.

In the frozen north, the Institute’s body will discover a competitor for its rung at the top of the evolutionary ladder. A parasite is spreading through the baron’s castle, already a dark pit of secrets, lies, violence, and fear. The two will make war on the battlefield of the body. Whichever wins, humanity will lose again.'