Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

44 reviews

generaljinjur's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

3.0

Not for me! I preferred “It’s Like That All Over” to the other two stories, but it was also the only one not featuring a crucifixion, so maybe I was just worn down. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

quoth_thepaperraven's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-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

3.75

thing have gotten worse is an excellent story. the other two were okay. enjoyable, but nothing compared to the titular narrative. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Confinement

alexdefel513's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Death, Suicide, and Animal cruelty

jasper_wildlife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Blood, Gore, Miscarriage, Vomit, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Homophobia, and Infertility

sleepyshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Ew.

A collection of short stories that have been ruining my brain and rotting my bones.

Eric LaRocca writes religious existentialism so well. Christ-figures adorn each story in this collection. Crucifying the believer and challenging nonbelievers alike, LaRocca can tie a noose and execute the reader without them seeing it coming. Wild.

I still can’t figure out how his relationship with his mom must be if they keep dedicating these stories to her and her faith. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child death, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, and Pregnancy

mashley14's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Generally, I liked it.

I didn't realize that the version I purchased had extra stories included, which was a pleasant surprise! Especially since I was, at first, confused by how many pages were left when Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke ended. But then! Extra spooky stories! Very exciting.

Short Story 1:
I liked how fast paced it was, it kept my attention peaked and I wasn't bored. This was awesome because my biggest problem with a lot of horror novels is that they take forever. Obviously, this is a short story, but still. Her slow descent into madness was captivating, and I loved how the format showed how much time had passed between correspondences. I also enjoyed how complicated both of the characters were--that's something I look for in a good story.

Short Story 2:
This one was a doozy. It took a while for the action to really start rolling, and that was difficult for me. I liked the complicated relationships between the characters, and the weird double meaning of

the son's note

. This was a time where I predicted something about the plot, but the story wasn't predictable--the author made me feel smart. 

Short Story 3:
This was my least favorite, but not because it was poorly written or anything like that. It was short and sweet and it definitely took a different turn than I expected, which is all we want from horror, no? 

All in all, I enjoyed this collection of stories, and I definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Suicide

lordslag's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

This was my first time ever reading a short story collection and I had super low expectations because everybody I’ve seen talk about it hateddd the last two stories but I liked all of them. They didn’t move me or anything but I enjoyed reading them all the same. Not an all time favorite but looking forward to re-reading eventually. I don’t think any of the stories are like super horrific or disturbing and crazy, so if that's what you’re looking for maybe pass but they were all fun quick reads to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Child death, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death, and Vomit

moosereads1's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

I try not to rate books as one star but I just couldn't stand this. The stories were dark, which I usually like but the characters were just outright awful. I couldn't stand any of them, and thus I couldn't feel for them. I had to push myself to finish it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Self harm

jesscoast'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I ripped through these three short horror stories, all with their own strange and unsettling premises. I was drawn in by the first, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, because of the chat room format and internet friendship gone wrong plot. The plunge into darkness was abrupt, disturbing, and shocking. I found myself getting queasy and squeamish, for a story set entirely online, the fictional real world consequences and true crime set up were intensely gory. The build up was addictive though and I couldn’t help but brace myself for the worst, dreadful of how far things could go. For a former internet teen such as myself, this is maybe the ultimate horror because it blends internet anonymity with the late night isolated, curious, frenzied message boards and chats with no supervision, guidebook, or sanity or safety checks. 

The other stories were dark and sad though I won’t say they’ll be nearly as memorable to me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Gore, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Self harm

rowstream's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

- Älskar formatet med utdrag av chattkonversationer och mail i 1:a novellen. Gör att vilken text som helst känns mer lättläst. 
- Älskar att det lämnas mycket för tolkning och spekulation. 
- Älskar att det hela tiden ligger en tryckande känsla av obehag genom alla 3 novellerna. 
- Älskar författarens skrivsätt. 

- Varför parasiter?! Hujedamig. 
- Uppskattar mindre sonens dödsfall i 2:a novellen då den verkar OMÖJLIG. Men alla har artistisk frihet, jag kan bara inte se hur det är möjligt?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Miscarriage