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loongbooy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Cursing, Vomit, Violence, Body horror, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Murder
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.elyssajoh's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
IT’S ENOUGH SLICES.
This book had me captivated nearly the entire time. The format of the book was quite unique and I enjoyed it. There was so much to read into from the socratic dialogue between the two main characters to the slow reveal of the horrific plot in the novella within. I enjoyed trying to interpret all these details and how the various works within the book related to the main storyline.
However, there was too much going on (hence it’s enough slices). I am having trouble even concisely summing up what this book is about - plagiarism? . I can’t quite make up my mind if it would benefit from being longer or if some of the details should have been cut. A lot of the explanations i.e. the wax priest thing, the Martyr has a tumor thing, Tamsen blames her brother for her parent’s death, they’re stuck in a loop, the video game changes people, Ambrose is involved in the murders, the sex scenes of Tamsen versus Martyr, the reveal that it was all plagiarized actually seem just glossed over and not fully explained, part of which is intentional and leaves the reader to interpret for themselves what it means. Part of it seems rushed- did LaRocca really do the work of investigating the psychology of serial killers before writing this? (For a book largely based on dialogue with the main character, this is important.)
Overall, it was really cool but it was just tooooo much. Delving deeper into just a few of the big reveals may have been more impactful than shoving as many horrific reveals into the plot as possible.
That being said, I do plan to try another book by LaRocca at some point.
This book had me captivated nearly the entire time. The format of the book was quite unique and I enjoyed it. There was so much to read into from the socratic dialogue between the two main characters to the slow reveal of the horrific plot in the novella within. I enjoyed trying to interpret all these details and how the various works within the book related to the main storyline.
However, there was too much going on (hence it’s enough slices). I am having trouble even concisely summing up what this book is about
Overall, it was really cool but it was just tooooo much. Delving deeper into just a few of the big reveals may have been more impactful than shoving as many horrific reveals into the plot as possible.
That being said, I do plan to try another book by LaRocca at some point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, and Sexual content
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
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
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
rosage's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
what did i just read?! this was the most incredible horror novel i’ve ever read! i want to read any and everything by eric larocca now. this book was phenomenal!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Torture, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Blood, Car accident, Death, and Kidnapping
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
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this book. What's it about? I don't even know. It's kind of a dialogue between two men who are dating. One is a serial killer. It switches back and forth between that and a novella written by the serial killer in which we follow the story of a video game designer and her little brother who move to a rich/well-known game developers estate because she was hired to work on one of his new games. There's a lot of strangeness surrounding the designer and his estate. Weird stuff happens. Best to go into it not really knowing anything.
Things I liked:
Things I liked:
- This book is very eloquently written. I literally enjoyed the words used. It was poetic.
- It felt like reading two books in one and neither part was boring. It did this incredibly well despite not being a lot book itself.
- There was a lot of ambiguity but it seriously worked in this book. No information dumping!
- I was surprised. Little hints are dropped throughout the book that certain things were happening and it really comes full circle (mostly in the novella portion).
- I found a lot of the characters to be likeable and colourful.
Things I Didn't Like:
- That it ended. I wanted to know more!! Although I suspect knowing too much would take some of the magic and the mystery away from this book. This might be my favourite book of the year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Child death, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual content and Alcohol
Body Horror:wadefrye's review
dark
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
This book was amazing. It was the first book that have ever read fully through. When i first started to read this book I was a little confused on how the poems, the novella, and the conversation recordings linked together, but then in the end it made sense. I will definitely be recommending this book to others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship