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candoreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Vomit, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
johnnytest'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
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Gore, and Murder
Minor: Grief
the_edgarallanhoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was vibing with it but the ending was a bit of a letdown
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer
msradiosilence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
Last year I read Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica, and much like that book, this one is difficult to review. I know I liked the book, but I’m not sure, exactly, how I feel. The book is well written, and I love the way it’s written. It reminds me of found fiction, and good found footage at that.
The story reminds me a lot of
There were some typos, but since this book was self-published, I’m not gonna hold it against LaRocca.
Rating: 4
Would I recommend? Yes, especially if you enjoy movies like In the Tall Grass/Triangle/Happy Death Day, and true crime.
Content warnings: Car accident, Child death, Blood, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Vomit, Violence, Murder, and Sexual content
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Car accident, Death, Gore, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Vomit, and Violence
brokenbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror
dosxhime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Animal death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
mirnda'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
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Murder, and Body horror
Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Cancer, and Torture
Minor: Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident
mikepalumbo'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: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Death of parent, Confinement, Cursing, Alcoholism, Vomit, Car accident, Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Violence
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was first introduced to LaRocca as an author via his contribution to the short story collection The Book Of Queer Saints put together by Mae Murray. His was one of my absolute favourite additions to the collection and i was excited to read more, longer, works from him.
this is essentially a character study through a horror story that interweaves another story within it that mirrors the framing device pretty fucking well imo. the ending is pretty open so you can come to your own conclusions about a couple of aspects so if you like a more neatly tied bow in your novel endings, probably skip this one. this was dark, upsetting, and a bit gross. i liked how the two stories were mostly separate until you get to the end and realise what you'd been reading the whole time and what it essentially may mean. i like how the two mirrored each other and that the framing device was more a character study of an individual while the story within that was more plot focused. a little bit of both of these worked well for me but may not for others.
i want to go a bit into what could be considered spoiler territory when it comes to what i overall enjoyed in the story so consider this the end of my main review.
i liked the back & forth with ambrose & martyr, especially the bits where they talk on stories, horror, & a couple movies. these conversations tell you just about exactly whats going on here: that not all horror is meant to scare, simply to upset, that it depends on the reader. that people will prefer dread that is about what you dont see while others will prefer what you DO. they even talk about what is or isnt plagiarism, and then in the end, when you discovery martyr & ambrose truly know nothing about each other because all martyr is is what hes taken from others. that its part of why he kills? fucking genius.
the novella within follows a sister and her brother as she gets a job with a gaming company. this story touches on the idea that violent video games create violent people. they don't in real life (ive been a gamer the majority of my current 35 years and i can show you studies that come out every year that show no correlation between video games and the creation of violence in kids or adults.), but i love how LaRocca plays with the idea of "but what if they did>" what if someone created a game, a simulation, a machine, that takes from the player and replaces them with a replicated machine, itself? sound familiar? martyer is the machine. his victims are the players of the simulation. his killing of them is the victims experiencing the simulation and martyr is replacing them with himself afterwards.
this novella is meant to be a work of fiction BY martyr that he had published but, but the end, you see it never was at all. ambrose discovers him writing these things & realises he stole it from a victim. that he steals all his writing & personality, his entire self, from those he kills. and therein lies the open ending. did ambrose dispose of martyr after this realisation? did ambrose publish the novella in martyr's name after the fact then leave all the recordings and writings for the authorities to find later? we may not ever truly know, but that's how i feel it went down.
i can not wait to read more of LaRocca's work. i'll probably even read this one again and again.
Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Gore, Violence, Child death, Death, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
nittiotvaan'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
2.25
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Gore
Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Car accident, Torture, and Sexual content