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reallynotconor's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is heavy; it would be easier to name the trigger warnings that the book doesn't cover.
So a friend of mine asked me if I could get this for her, and I thought the cover looked cool, so I also gave it a read. Due to it being a novella and the format of the text, it only took me an hour and a half to get through it, but wow, that was a lot. The dark tragic love between Agnes and Zoe holds a dark mirror to our own depravity and obsessive tendencies towards those who we see as better than us. The story starts with a simple offer to buy an apple peeler and quickly delves into the dark reality of emotionally abusive relationships, fanaticism and addiction.
The novella only contains two speaking characters, Zoe and Agnes. At the start of the book, Agnes is struggling to pay rent and, in an act of desperation, attempts to sell the only thread she has to her family, the apple peeler. Zoe offers to buy it over email, and after learning about Agnes's financial situation, she sends her money to pay rent, which quickly sparks a friendship between the two that leads to a romantic relationship. Zoe tells Agnes about something her father used to tell her, "Do you deserve your eyes?" which tries to motivate someone to live life in a way that makes them deserve the ability to look at it all.
Their romantic relationship quickly turns sinister when Zoe sends Agnes a slave contract that gives her complete control over all of Agnes's financial and social accounts and pressures Agnes into doing inappropriate things that cost her her job, which makes her financially dependent on Zoe. She also must sleep in the nude with the air conditioning on full blast. Agnes didn't see this as a red flag as she felt free and alive after she was fired, but Agnes quickly expressed how she wants to be a mother, and Zoe told her that she should grab a salamander and walk around with it for a day to experience what holding a life was like, and after the day was done, she would have to kill it.
It isn't until Agnes kills an animal for Zoe that she starts to lose control over Agnes. Agnes cuts contact after she kills the animal, but just as the name entails "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" but not in the way you might think, after a month Agnes has grown to obsess over Zoe and desperately tries to win her back, and When she does, she expresses her desire to be a mother to Zoe's child, which Zoe uses to make her eat a large piece of beef that had been left outside for multiple days in order to contract a tape worm that she named Finneas. Agnes, at this point, has become completely infatuated with Zoe and obsessively contacts her every day, and even when Zoe tries to explain to her that it is just a tape worm that will pass, Agnes believes that it will stay with her forever as her baby. At this point, Zoe understands what she has done and quickly exits Agnes's life, leaving her completely alone and desperate. Similar to the effect of making an addict go cold turkey, Agnes desperately tried to relapse, but without her object of obsession, she drives her hatred inward.
All around, this book made me say "what the fuck" out loud twice, which is more than what I can say for other books, but the pacing of the book was quite off, with it just kind of ending without feeling like a true conclusion.
World 5/10
Characters 7/10
Plot 8/10
overall enjoyment 8/10
So a friend of mine asked me if I could get this for her, and I thought the cover looked cool, so I also gave it a read. Due to it being a novella and the format of the text, it only took me an hour and a half to get through it, but wow, that was a lot. The dark tragic love between Agnes and Zoe holds a dark mirror to our own depravity and obsessive tendencies towards those who we see as better than us. The story starts with a simple offer to buy an apple peeler and quickly delves into the dark reality of emotionally abusive relationships, fanaticism and addiction.
The novella only contains two speaking characters, Zoe and Agnes. At the start of the book, Agnes is struggling to pay rent and, in an act of desperation, attempts to sell the only thread she has to her family, the apple peeler. Zoe offers to buy it over email, and after learning about Agnes's financial situation, she sends her money to pay rent, which quickly sparks a friendship between the two that leads to a romantic relationship. Zoe tells Agnes about something her father used to tell her, "Do you deserve your eyes?" which tries to motivate someone to live life in a way that makes them deserve the ability to look at it all.
Their romantic relationship quickly turns sinister when Zoe sends Agnes a slave contract that gives her complete control over all of Agnes's financial and social accounts and pressures Agnes into doing inappropriate things that cost her her job, which makes her financially dependent on Zoe. She also must sleep in the nude with the air conditioning on full blast. Agnes didn't see this as a red flag as she felt free and alive after she was fired, but Agnes quickly expressed how she wants to be a mother, and Zoe told her that she should grab a salamander and walk around with it for a day to experience what holding a life was like, and after the day was done, she would have to kill it.
It isn't until Agnes kills an animal for Zoe that she starts to lose control over Agnes. Agnes cuts contact after she kills the animal, but just as the name entails "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" but not in the way you might think, after a month Agnes has grown to obsess over Zoe and desperately tries to win her back, and When she does, she expresses her desire to be a mother to Zoe's child, which Zoe uses to make her eat a large piece of beef that had been left outside for multiple days in order to contract a tape worm that she named Finneas. Agnes, at this point, has become completely infatuated with Zoe and obsessively contacts her every day, and even when Zoe tries to explain to her that it is just a tape worm that will pass, Agnes believes that it will stay with her forever as her baby. At this point, Zoe understands what she has done and quickly exits Agnes's life, leaving her completely alone and desperate. Similar to the effect of making an addict go cold turkey, Agnes desperately tried to relapse, but without her object of obsession, she drives her hatred inward.
All around, this book made me say "what the fuck" out loud twice, which is more than what I can say for other books, but the pacing of the book was quite off, with it just kind of ending without feeling like a true conclusion.
World 5/10
Characters 7/10
Plot 8/10
overall enjoyment 8/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Slavery
honeytangerine's review
dark
tense
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
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