Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

13 reviews

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

illtakethenightshiftx's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Eric LaRocca is a great short story author and this novel felt like it should’ve been 3-4 separate short stories in the same anthology. Nothing felt cohesive and when the two main narratives came together it was so quick and didn’t make a lot of sense. Also, considering this audiobook was only about 5.5 hours long, it was so wordy! 

Honestly, it felt like a draft that needed more work, between the use of language and extremely heavy-handed themes. The story as a whole was underwhelming and I didn’t find myself attached to any of the characters (which is a bad sign!). I’ve only been blown away/completely impressed by one of LaRocca’s short stories and found their other works underwhelming, so I honestly don’t know what I was expecting from this novel. 

If you really like LaRocca’s work, you might enjoy this.

I also cannot stress enough, check the content warnings and read other reviews.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Islamophobia

Minor: Biphobia

ecn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

So good but not much of a build up and the quickest resolution/wrap up, which left me wanting more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Body horror, Biphobia, Torture, Grief, Gore, Child death, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Hate crime, Blood, Medical content, Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Excrement

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

eatssleepsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

butyougotmysoul's review against another edition

slow-paced

1.0

This was an extremely poorly written narrative that held ableist and homophobic views aloft and kept harping on them at every moment. It’s also extremely disappointing to me that the characterization of Crowley was so disproportionately evil and of course he had AIDS. Malik’s whole storyline was terrible and the aftermath of his traumatic experience and Fleece’s explanation for his homophobia was disgusting. Malik sympathizing with Fleece was uncalled for and it seemed like the story went out of its way to humanize someone that would hurt another person in this way. Disgusting. 

Gemma couldn’t accept her daughter’s disability and looked at her as a “monster”

Ghost consistently called himself a monster and a burden. 

I don’t know if it’s the content or the tone, but I do not get along with this author’s books. Rather than horror, they’re all just vaguely gory, ableist, and meandering. I don’t think I’ll be trying anymore of their writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Rape, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, Biphobia, Gore, Hate crime, and Violence

erebus53's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I picked up this one at random because the title seemed interesting.
The story is weird, mysterious, supernatural, and bleak. It felt like there were actually 2 stories stitched together.

People are going missing, and one of the police officers investigating is a Muslim man who is getting flack from his husband for pulling long hours. They are a sweet couple, but continually on guard due to micro-agressions from their neighbours.. which escalate to macro-agressions and ultimately extreme violence, as someone in the neighborhood is trying to pressure the men into leaving.

The other protagonist is a depressed young man who is grieving the loss of his wife and unborn child in a motor accident that permanently damaged his own leg. He has this niggling voice that continually disparages him. It belongs to an actual demon (is it real?) with whom he has an oddly codependent toxic relationship. (Nowhere near as friendly as Calcifer in Howl's Moving Castle). One day he meets a fancy old man with a swanky mansion who offers wishes.. this gives me real "Needful Things" vibes. The guy is about as suspect as you can get even before he introduces himself as Heart Crowley.

Mumble mumble, magic, cult, demon / God, zealots, creepy, blood and rituals etc. (step 4: profit!... or prophet?)
Meanwhile sadistic homophobic violence, rape, multilation, and all that bad stuff

but that's ok because we have God locked in our cellar and he can make it all miraculously better.
Kinda liked the whole Clockwork Orange feel of stumbling into the mansion in the middle of the night though. ("HOME")

I liked that most of the characters are gay or pan. Interesting to hear the widow character voicing experience of biphobia. I realize it's supposed to be gritty and horrific but the whole rape angle just felt awful rather than creepy. I kind of feel like the whole story might have had more going for it if it was either a supernatural horror with a paranoid anxiety sufferer OR the horrible side of be what can happen to a sweet gay couple just trying to live their best life, but trying to tangle the two together is just not quite doing either justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Racism, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, Rape, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

mindysbookjourney's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Grief, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Car accident, Death, Pedophilia, Ableism, Biphobia, and Child death

angreadseverything's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Excrement, and Biphobia

aparker89's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A fast-paced supernatural mystery that will leave you begging for mercy. Not only will you feel sorrow, you can feel the slash of the knife. While you witness some truly horrific events in this story, most are not so far fetched as to be unbelievable. You feel for every person you meet and the evil lurking is both ethereal and too real! With any luck, you might finish unscathed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Grief

Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Excrement, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Islamophobia, and Blood

Minor: Body shaming, Biphobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement