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Reviews tagging 'Gore'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
69 reviews
automatic_rae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Body horror, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal death, Gore, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Murder, Grief, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Miscarriage, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Abandonment
bibliograflieg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gore, Child death, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death and Vomit
mayion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore
quoth_thepaperraven's review
- 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
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
slimygf's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Gore and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Suicide
tropicalpanda's review
Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Child death, Gore, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Body horror
jasper_wildlife's review
- 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
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
minimicropup's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
- Bizarro, speculative, satirical threaded with low key, suggestive horror
- Hits of heavy, sad, macabre horror and exploring the effects of that trauma in symbolic prose
- No plot just vibes-ish, snapshot of life drama with polarizing experiences and themes
- Eclectic mixes of short/novella style stories
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🐺 Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐕
🎬 Tale-Telling: The writing throughout was mesmerizing. There was a rhythm to the words that made me eager to discover what would happen next. Even when the stories seemed to wander into the abstract, the prose held my attention without being distracting or seeming fake. It didn’t feel pretentious, just…different and literary?
🔥 Fuel:
1: My favourite and sits perfectly in the realm of realistically skewing nostalgia. For those millennials who grew up with the internet, this isn’t so far-fetched. Pretentious people writing long-winded weirdness was like, the entirety of late ‘90s/early aughts discussions on websites anyone could make and hardly anyone would ever find 😅. And for the younger reader wondering why anyone would even interact with the giant red flag these people were…think of Catfish fully unhinged.
2: With its echoes of "The Shining," it had an atmosphere and a deep, unsettling vibe that carries the narrative far, even if the ending leaves you scratching your head and feeling insecure about clues you might have missed (or was that just me?)
3: While not hitting the same high notes, still offered its own unique flavor.
Random Thoughts
🤓 What worked: Most of these tales were suggestive, symbolic horror more Kafkaesque nightmare than gory spectacles. It was the kind of horror that sometimes had shock value but mainly aimed to unsettle through the absurd, the satirical, and the downright bizarre. The collection might not be for those seeking straightforward or gory scares; instead, it was a deeper, more introspective form of unease and existential dread.
🫠 What didn’t: Since they're so different, not every story in this collection may hit the mark for every reader. Those who like 1 may dislike 3...those who love 3 likely dislike 1 etc.
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Content Heads-Up:
1: Food horror. Sexual content (brief, self). Animal cruelty and torture (wildlife
2: Divorce/separation. Suicide. Delusions. Death. Murder. Sexual content (consentual, brief). Religious/spiritual horror (death, afterlife, punishment). Parental rejection (of adult child). Infidelity. Loss of a child. Miscarriage (brief description on page). Loss of a spouse. Grief.
3: Racism (racist character opinion; off page). Gambling.
Rep:
1: Lesbian. Ambiguous gender and sexual identities.
2: Heterosexual. Cisgender and ambiguous gender identities.
3: Gay. Cisgender.
👀 Format: Kobo Plus
“Reviews are my musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶 refined by my AI bookworm bestie ✨”
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Gore and Miscarriage
Minor: Infidelity, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content
mashley14's review
- 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
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
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
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Suicide
lordslag's review against another edition
- 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
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