Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

18 reviews

autumnrevisited's review against another edition

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

0.5

This is genuinely one of the worst books I have read from an "established," published author. The writing in the book was incredibly clunky with metaphors that not only didn't make sense, but felt like they were written solely for the sake of shock. There were also moments in the book where descriptions and explanations seemed to be entirely missing, with settings and situations coming out of nowhere. The story itself was lackluster, with the secondary main character only contributing the most minor presence in the following "climax." So much of Ghost's character and set up was shallow and unexplained, relying on supernatural nonsense to get the point across.

While I disliked the writing, what bothered me the most about this book was how LaRocca treated their characters. The book claims to be a queer horror novel, but the only part of it that seems genuinely queer is the secondary main character who services only as a conduit for violence. There is not a moment where Malik is happy, only witnessing his husband's hate crime, being kidnapped, sexually and brutally assaulted, and almost murdered. All for being gay. There is no other development to his character other than to have slurs thrown at him and have violence done unto him. Also, the "bad guys" in the story both are also queer or have experienced similar violence. I find it unacceptable and disgusting that LaRocca would take a character that does extreme sexual and physical violence to one of the only POC characters in the book and make their motivation be a past assault from another gay character. Furthermore, giving the main villain AIDS (at least hinting at it) for no reason other than to mention it adds to the image that people with AIDS are violent and dirty.

LaRocca also completely ignores his female characters. They are either stupid, pathetic, or fridged. There is not a moment with a female character where they have any real agency. They are dead to move the male main character's story forward or placed as a helpless damsel in distress in order to be protected.

I purchased and read this book because I heard many good things about LaRocca's other works and the horror they have created. However, after reading this book, I refuse to read anything else LaRocca has written or may write in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Grief, Ableism, Gore, Kidnapping, Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Vomit

Moderate: Excrement, Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Grief, Blood, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, and Hate crime

migawoo's review against another edition

dark sad medium-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

1.0

I bought this book because I was a fan of LaRocca's "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" and because the book looks minimalistic and attractive. Sadly, the book is quite boring and the way the story came together was not satisfying at all. The main character "Ghost" is edgier than Kaz Brekker and there are way too many plot holes to count. The characters don't make sense in their own right. I do want to keep reading this author's other book, but this one was a big miss for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Ableism, Sexual assault, Violence, Homophobia, and Hate crime

rebekahmccubbins's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

I went into this book excited - I picked it up after seeing multiple recommendations in lists of queer horror novels. And I really wanted to like it.  I'm genuinely confused as to how this book was published. 

The author clearly enjoys flowery prose, which is fine when done well. But this was painful to read. Every third sentence was a simile or over-description, making it hard to keep track of what's actually happening in the story. The plot felt half-baked, and the details were confusing. I found myself constantly asking, 'why?'. The characters' motivations didn't feel reasonable.

And the extremely graphic violence against Malik and Brett felt uncalled for. Frankly, that subplot never tied in to a degree that felt justified. So I was left feeling that the author just... WANTED to torture and decimate a gay couple (confusing, because by all accounts, he is gay). 

I can't in good faith recommend this story to anyone. If you do choose to read, good luck. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Ableism, Medical content, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Cursing, Classism, Confinement, Blood, Biphobia, Stalking, Kidnapping, Rape, Homophobia, Excrement, Violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

theochick's review

challenging dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

1.0

This book had an interesting concept and incredibly poor execution. Definitely mind the content warnings (I probably missed some)! Prologue sets up a way more enjoyable/fun story than the book delivers which I think makes it even more disappointing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Grief, Violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Pedophilia

jessereadsthings's review

dark tense medium-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Rape, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia

heartofhorrors's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Homophobia, Car accident, Excrement, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Biphobia, Hate crime, Islamophobia, and Violence

dexdar's review

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

Poorly written.  Lots of things that didn’t make sense in the context of the story. Also just not my type of book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Ableism, and Rape

silvermusic10's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Ableism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Religious bigotry

sinisterbeard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Eric LaRocca is a potentially great novelist who's badly in need of a trad publishing editor. This reads like a great first draft, full of grammatical errors, fancy words used incorrectly, muddy plotting, and frustratingly foolish characters who take very little action and achieve nothing. With a year's polish at a proper house, this could have been Salem's Lot good, which is the book it most reminds me off. As it is, it's deeply frustrating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Homophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Body horror, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Miscarriage

ashlislibrary's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Rape, and Homophobia