Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

260 reviews

itsjustgrumpy's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

You know what? I expected it to be so much more grotesque with the way people were reviewing it. 

It was sad, seeing someone dove wholeheartedly into an unrequited romance with just selfish intent on the other side. And the building dread that forms in the first few pages just continues to compile til the final line.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Pregnancy, Gore, Vomit, and Sexual content

glitchymomma42's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book absolutely disgusted me but that's what it was supposed to do.

I quite literally almost threw up whenever Agnes ate the rotted meat.

the first story was personally a little bit too grotesque for my taste however it is what it was setting out to do just not something I would read again. The other stories were way more my taste and I'm glad that I was able to "put the book in the freezer" and finish it the next day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Vomit

darksaphira's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Child abuse, and Animal death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Body horror, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

tibcanread's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

I hate giving 1 star reviews, but I couldn't stand this book even more. I read this for a horror book club pick and I'm going to be honest, I just skimmed the last story. I couldn't anymore. It was gross. Not even in a fun way, just gross. I actually felt sick to my stomach reading some of these nasty descriptions. And what was the obsession with pregnancy in the first two stories? Like, why? Really.  

I found no real redeeming quality in this collection. The writing was not great (if I hear someone spooned something ever again it will be too soon, and how do ears furrow exactly??) It's only January 9th and I'm pretty sure this is going to the top of the worst books I read list for 2024 already. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Gore, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Child death

wlw1tch's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An intriguing, fast-paced downward spiral with a unique format. Not as shocking as people made it seem but definitely heed the content warnings, it does get graphic!
I wouldn’t go to this book for representation by any means, but the characters’ queerness makes certain parts of the narrative much more compelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Terminal illness and Vomit

All instances of animal death are described in graphic detail,

a salamander

and

a cat

as is one child (infant) death in which

the narrator describes a case she saw on the news wherein a baby is murdered by his brother

alexalily's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

sben13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Death, Self harm, Blood, Toxic relationship, Gore, Body horror, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Vomit

bluedesi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An unsettling quick read. Genuinely got sick to my stomach and had to skip over some emails in the first story. All interesting and kept me captivated however.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Body horror, and Confinement

hranoosh's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Animal death, and Child death

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

underwhelmingly mediocre. each story had a strong premise and each failed to deliver any kind of interesting, tense, or emotional conclusion. The first two were quite gross--i guess for the shock value?--but weren't scary. Just yucky.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Miscarriage, and Vomit