Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

this collection unsettled me in a way that's stuck with me as i eat apples, as i pick the florets of vegetables from my teeth, and as i slip into the bath. queer not as in romantic, but queer as in obsessed with the self and devoted to the other, queer from the inside out. truly excellent dip into what LaRocca can accomplish in short order.

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judah_g's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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zombiegf's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

average queer dating experience tbh

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saj04's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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from_paradise's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.5

girl so many parts to this could have been SO good but they were all done so half-heartedly... disappointing

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chainsawheartbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

1/ Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

What the absolute fuck? I feel sick to my stomach and so wildly concerned for Agnes. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, they did!

Well played Mr LaRocca, well damn played, and that writing was so visceral. I have immense fear for whatever dark and twisted alley the other two stories are going to drag me down.

2/ The Enchantment

I’m honestly more confused about this story, more specifically its ending, than I am anything else.

I understand it’s dealing with grief and coping with a horrific, surprising event, but I’m just sat wondering “what?”

I’m not quite sure what some of the events had to do with the plot, neither character really seemed to be dealing with anything in a normal way, and what was that weird bug creature at the end, what relevance did that have?

All in all, I wasn’t a fan of this one, it fell flat for me sadly.

3/ You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over

It felt more like a 50 page essay on how people can be willing to do anything not to offend someone else, and the feeling of embarrassment they get when it doesn’t go right.

I did gasp when they went into the attic, but overall it didn’t really inthrall me.

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hanniballecter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

when i first read this book, it changed my brain chemistry. it's so genuinely special to me and, like, the first ever fucked up lesbian shit ive seen in my life. rereading it, though, its kinda mid honestly. one of those books thatd be better if it was written by an actual lesbian.

i adore the writing style, the descriptions, the poetry of it all; it's visceral, haunting, and has stuck with me since i first read it.

i still think a lot about when agnes so joyfully told zoe she finally had their "child" (a tapeworm). also, "fuck you. fuck you and your honesty." will forever stick with me, holy shit.

but, on the other hand, the chat message dialogue is kinda clunky and i dislike how it's advertised as mutual obsession when it's just zoe abusing agnes. the author's notes and the whole police report aspect are wholly unnecessary in my opinion, too; i feel the ending and the characters' fates should've been left ambiguous. it would've made the book, as a whole, hit a whole lot harder. i think describing the bdsm contract as "tortuous" in one of the author's notes was kinda stupid.

all in all, i greatly recommend this, but don't go into it expecting a mutually destructive relationship full of rotting gardenias and parasites and disturbing dreams. it's abuse, but it's poetic abuse. i think i would've liked this one more had i not been misled and had it not had those stupid ass author's notes.

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