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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
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
I read Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and, while it was one of my most disturbing reads, I felt like reading it was definitely worth my time. I can’t say the same here. I feel like either the author was trying to one up themselves or maybe just got a little too lost in the details. I felt like the book was screaming at me that it was gory rather than showing me.
3.25/5
As always, LaRocca leaves me thinking... What did I just read? Easy one sitting book for fall.
As always, LaRocca leaves me thinking... What did I just read? Easy one sitting book for fall.
Just couldn’t get into it, seemed painfully slow
Lmao I honestly don't know what I read. I know for a fact that I was hooked at the beginning. I wasn't sure where it would take me, but I was really fascinated with Martyr and Ambrose's story. Tamsen's story was fairly ok, but I like that the horror concept is the repetition of trying to free the clones (or whatever they're actually trying to free). Is this how all of Eric's work goes? This was the first novel I've ever read of his, but I am fairly intrigued.
People saying there's no plot aren't wrong. Buuuut I high key love THOUGHTS NOT PLOTS. It is basically peeking into a killer's diary...and that is all. And I'm okay with that. It is a vibe. It is thoughts not plots. The 1 and 2 star reviews aren't wrong about it being confusing with no plot. But like...if you're not into just being along for the vibes then just don't read this. Otherwise enjoy the ride and get lost in the thoughts of a very f*cked up brain.
I still don’t think I totally understand what I just read to be honest. A story within a story within a story, all of which are interwoven through passing phrases I often didn’t realize were clues until 20 pages later. But it was unnerving, entertaining, and definitely weird. The one thing I’m not totally sold on was with the way everyone talks about Larocca’s work, I was expecting it to be much more brutal and depraved than it was. But overall another well written gay horror novel you can finish in a few sittings, my favorite!
another Eric larocca/horror book where idk how to rate it lol
A worm doesn’t listen to a grasshopper.
Yikes! But I mean that in a complimentary way. Mostly? Gosh, this was weird, probably weirder than the first book I read by this author, and for a long while I thought it a bit incoherent and not as cohesive as I'd have liked. It's told through excerpts of a novella, audio recordings by the author, diary entries (?) and poetry, as well as with the added insight of some footnotes. It was made clear what the connection was between all these things, but it wasn't until the end that it really started working and clicking for me. The novella portions had a lot of gross body horror and unexplained weirdness, and that sorta thing is right up my alley, but I still found the novella to be the weakest part of the book. It's told (very deliberately) in a really distinct, kinda choppy style, and I found that a bit hard to parse. It was really fascinating though, especially when we get certain reveals. My favourite parts were the audio recordings, and the fact that we get Martyr's interjections and reactions after the fact. Just a bunch of really weird, sometimes interesting, often fucked up conversations, and I love how it all comes to really satisfying conclusion. For a very specific definition of 'satisfying'.
Yeah. Pretty fucked up! I'd read it again.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
murder, gore, blood, eye trauma, body horrorStorytelling is an art form, and it belongs to no one.
This book was so weird lol. As to be expected from Eric LaRocca, and part of why I've loved both books I've read from them. There's just something unique and twisty about their writing style that I really enjoy. This one in particular made me feel like I had no idea what was going on the whole time and I had a great time trying to figure it out. I just wish there was more! The novella within the book was fascinating, but I wish we could have read more about Martyr Black and his partner. That was the only thing that seemed to be lacking from the story for me.