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Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
7 reviews
automatic_rae's review against another edition
- 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
szyca'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
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Death, Animal death, Gore, and Toxic relationship
melliedm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
1. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a gruesome epistolary story connecting two women through email and text message where their quickly dread-inducing kink relationship becomes a nausea-inducing horror-show on the desperation people have to love and be loved. Truly disgusting and I could never bring myself to read it again, but it was the best story in the collection.
2. The Enchantment follows an estranged couple as they act as caretakers for an island hotel the winter after their son’s suicide. Heavy religious themes might resonate more with other readers, but they didn’t with me. The beats in this one read more like the author wanted very much for this to be a screenplay and not a short story. It felt a little like other familiar stories in the horror canon put into a blender? My least favourite of the bunch.
3. It’s Like This All Over was mildly interesting. A man finds something strange in his yard and politely confronts his aloof neighbour about it, and then finds himself unable to refuse the neighbour’s invitations. The way the author presented the protagonist’s perspective seemed to have the opposite effect as was intended. By the end I got the sense we were supposed to very much view him as an insert that any of us could very well be, but there was a strange depersonalizations of him that made it difficult. Perhaps it was that he never has a first name, and is only “Mr. (Surname)”, which in my mind has a way of othering someone. I also would have liked to spend more time with the protagonist actually engaging with the neighbour, the escalation seemed far too sudden.
Overall an enjoyable collection of disturbing tales, and quick to read in a single dark evening alone.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Sexual content, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Abandonment, Body horror, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
parasolcrafter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Vomit, Self harm, Body horror, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Blood, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Death, and Gore
selkieteeth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Grief, Gore, Animal death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit
Minor: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Racism, Infidelity, and Alcohol
dy_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Body horror, Child abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Animal death, Cursing, Grief, and Sexual content
boglord's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, and Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Abandonment, Infertility, and Vomit