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cutelilcryptid's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
First, I want to say that I was SO READY to like this book. I picked it up in a bookstore with no context (I haven't read Larocca's previous work and knew little about it, despite the TikTok hype). I read the Introduction and thought that reading the collected writings of a fictional murderer would be AWESOME. Even though I knew it was fiction, I bought into the concept entirely and I was HYPED to read it.
...and that's where the excitement stopped. I'm not going to whine about content. Shoving toothpicks in people's ears? Daydreaming about how you'd kill your boyfriend? Masturbating on cancer patients? Cyborg cunnilingus? Fine, whatever. I signed up for weird shit when I chose to read a book in this genre. The actual reasons for my discontent are outlined below.
1. Have I mentioned that I love the concept of this book? The concept is that this collection of dialogue, poetry, and novella chapters were written by a serial killer, Martyr Black, and has been published in order to "shed light" on his crimes, victims, and possibly give hints to where he's disappeared to. I was 100% ready to take a highlighter to this book and make a whole ass conspiracy theory pinboard trying to connect the dots and piece together everything he did, where he disappeared to, and why he left. There's this tendency with writing, especially with poetry, to try to conflate the narrative voice with the voice of the writer themselves and view all poetry as autobiographical (*cough*Sylvia Plath*cough*), and I thought this book was going to provide some really interesting commentary on that idea. Which leads to my next point:
2. The ending "plot twist" totally fumbled the entire concept for the book (I use "plot twist" in the loosest sense, this book has no real plot beyond what I already stated). At the end of the book you find out that MARTYR BLACK PLAGIARIZED EVERYTHING FROM HIS VICTIMS. With the exception of the dialogues recorded on his phone, the poems and the ENTIRE NOVELLA were stolen from people he murdered. So any REAL attempts to piece the mystery of Martyr Black together through his writing is an utter fucking waste because HE DIDN'T WRITE IT. While this might provide interesting commentary on the "haha this is why you shouldn't treat people's writing as autobiographical" idea I mentioned earlier, the real reason I hate it is because it effectively shirks all responsibility for the established concept.
Remember how I said I was ready to take a highlighter to this and go crazy connecting dots trying to figure out who Martyr is and why he did what he did? The ending renders that effectively impossible, because it's not actually written by Martyr. As a reader, I felt this was a cheap and lazy ploy. It would be much more difficult, after all, to craft a self-contained anthology that, bit by bit, reveals more and more about the writer and how his dark obsessions lead to hideous acts. Instead we get "hee hoo the whole thing was stolen anyway". It's the equivalent of getting to the end of the book and the main character wakes up in bed and says "Wow, what a strange dream". I was pissed.
ONE MAJOR PROBLEM with this ending: if this is an anthology of "stolen" poetry, there are still way too many thematic and stylistic connections between different works. One of the poems mentions "Holy Eucharist" and there's a later poems is titled "Eucharist". The same poem is also titled "I Search for You Until My Lungs Sprout Metal" and the ENTIRE NOVELLA is about people being infested by machines. These are just a few examples I can think of off hand and I'm sure there's plenty more. There also just seems to be little effort put into differentiating the works from one another stylistically (you know, the way they would be if all written by different people). Like, the book isn't even properly selling the "this was all plagiarism" concept that well. It's infuriating.
3. Purely as prose, the writing itself is quite good. Larocca's use of language is exquisite and masterful--to say anything less because I didn't like the end of the book would be discrediting him. The poetry is think is a little less inspired--it just seems like regular prose from anywhere else in the book with some line breaks tossed in. Good poetry is not just prose with line breaks, and I will die on that hill.
...and that's where the excitement stopped. I'm not going to whine about content. Shoving toothpicks in people's ears? Daydreaming about how you'd kill your boyfriend? Masturbating on cancer patients? Cyborg cunnilingus? Fine, whatever. I signed up for weird shit when I chose to read a book in this genre. The actual reasons for my discontent are outlined below.
1. Have I mentioned that I love the concept of this book? The concept is that this collection of dialogue, poetry, and novella chapters were written by a serial killer, Martyr Black, and has been published in order to "shed light" on his crimes, victims, and possibly give hints to where he's disappeared to. I was 100% ready to take a highlighter to this book and make a whole ass conspiracy theory pinboard trying to connect the dots and piece together everything he did, where he disappeared to, and why he left. There's this tendency with writing, especially with poetry, to try to conflate the narrative voice with the voice of the writer themselves and view all poetry as autobiographical (*cough*Sylvia Plath*cough*), and I thought this book was going to provide some really interesting commentary on that idea. Which leads to my next point:
2. The ending "plot twist" totally fumbled the entire concept for the book (I use "plot twist" in the loosest sense, this book has no real plot beyond what I already stated). At the end of the book you find out that
Remember how I said I was ready to take a highlighter to this and go crazy connecting dots trying to figure out who Martyr is and why he did what he did? The ending renders that effectively impossible, because it's not actually written by Martyr. As a reader, I felt this was a cheap and lazy ploy. It would be much more difficult, after all, to craft a self-contained anthology that, bit by bit, reveals more and more about the writer and how his dark obsessions lead to hideous acts. Instead we get "hee hoo the whole thing was stolen anyway". It's the equivalent of getting to the end of the book and the main character wakes up in bed and says "Wow, what a strange dream". I was pissed.
ONE MAJOR PROBLEM with this ending: if this is an anthology of "stolen" poetry, there are still way too many thematic and stylistic connections between different works. One of the poems mentions "Holy Eucharist" and there's a later poems is titled "Eucharist". The same poem is also titled "I Search for You Until My Lungs Sprout Metal" and the ENTIRE NOVELLA is about people being infested by machines. These are just a few examples I can think of off hand and I'm sure there's plenty more. There also just seems to be little effort put into differentiating the works from one another stylistically (you know, the way they would be if all written by different people). Like, the book isn't even properly selling the "this was all plagiarism" concept that well. It's infuriating.
3. Purely as prose, the writing itself is quite good. Larocca's use of language is exquisite and masterful--to say anything less because I didn't like the end of the book would be discrediting him. The poetry is think is a little less inspired--it just seems like regular prose from anywhere else in the book with some line breaks tossed in. Good poetry is not just prose with line breaks, and I will die on that hill.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Violence
I tried adding as many trigger warnings as I could remember, but honestly probably missed some. (Also idk how to tag some, like the whole "consenting to sexual activity until finding out she's a cyborg" deal.) It's basically purposely written to be disturbing and fulfills no other purpose.iliveinletters's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Vomit, Body horror, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Physical abuse
mmccombs's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
2.5
This was… not good?? I really loved the vibe and the book did gross me out, so that was successful. But… but!! I think LaRocca thought he was doing something with the way they structured this but it just broke up the suspense and the narrative being built. I’d get into the novella story, then get pulled out of it by the found recordings and poems. I didn’t really understand the connection between any of these pieces other than them being dark and brutal. The novella was interesting, though it felt a bit rushed. And the musings on plagiarism and horror and fear were compelling, but it felt stilted and incomplete. I enjoyed Things Have Gotten Worse, so that is why I picked this one up, but I am unsure about the quality of the writing and if I will continue seeking out their work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Gore
sunsetcity's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Death of parent
apersonfromflorida's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cancer and Vomit
hunkydory's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Body horror, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Animal cruelty, and Child death
madisonreads_'s review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Sexual violence
sharkgirlsam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
because of the way this book is compiled i don't feel like i can give it a rating? i really enjoyed reading it (i was looking for something that would make me squirm) but it doesn't really fit the normal book composition so it's hard to give it stars
with that said, this book was one of the most unique and disturbing i've read so far
•it's 10000% more vibes than plot which i've learned i actually LOVE
•probably the most gory, graphic, grotesque book i've read so far and probably is my limit, i don't know if i could handle anything that could possibly be worse than this (check TW for this one)
•in my opinion it's more of an anthology of a fictional character put together by a fictional editor which was a little confusing at first but i found it to be pretty cool
•there's a story within a story and i liked them both which is one of the reasons i think i liked it so much
•the diary entries literally made my skin crawl and stomach churn i almost couldn't get through some of them
•the novella reminded me so much of the saw movies, my favorite horror flicks, so ofc i ate it up!
•i have my own personal theory as to how the novella is related to the diary entries and selected poems but i'll leave that out
bookstagram: @littlelibraryofsam !!
with that said, this book was one of the most unique and disturbing i've read so far
•it's 10000% more vibes than plot which i've learned i actually LOVE
•probably the most gory, graphic, grotesque book i've read so far and probably is my limit, i don't know if i could handle anything that could possibly be worse than this (check TW for this one)
•in my opinion it's more of an anthology of a fictional character put together by a fictional editor which was a little confusing at first but i found it to be pretty cool
•there's a story within a story and i liked them both which is one of the reasons i think i liked it so much
•the diary entries literally made my skin crawl and stomach churn i almost couldn't get through some of them
•the novella reminded me so much of the saw movies, my favorite horror flicks, so ofc i ate it up!
•i have my own personal theory as to how the novella is related to the diary entries and selected poems but i'll leave that out
bookstagram: @littlelibraryofsam !!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Body horror and Suicidal thoughts
ripxw's review
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
elwirax's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
"I’d drown you in dark water if you weren’t so beautiful."
I read Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke last year and didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. Unfortunately, I felt more or less the same about You've Lost a Lot of Blood
There was nothing really terrifying about it (a part from the way that sex scene was written). The atmosphere and vibes were great though. I liked the story within a story more than that of Martyr and Ambrose, had that been the main plot I would've enjoyed this novella more.
I love LaRocca's strange concepts and their writing is amazing at its best, but the executions don't really do anything for me. The characters are rarely likeable which isn't the issue rather that I'm not invested in anything that happens to them. In this novella there doesn't seem to be a distinct plot though an an attempt at explaining the disjointed nature is provided at the end. I can't say that by the end I really understood the point ( there's a line about that somewhere in the book but I need there to be a purpose as an incentive to stay invested in a story).
Overall, I think that LaRocca might not be the author for me which is fine. I'm glad I gave their books a proper go but I'll most likely not read anything else they put out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol