Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

156 reviews

imogil's review

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

i should’ve listened to tiktok when they said it was lesbian torture porn. literally why was this written. even the authors note provided no clarity on why this was written. i hate that it was set out as if it was a true crime case - even though unfortunately that could make very poignant commentary on our societal obsession with “true crime” and not letting victims rest but i doubt the author went into this story thinking of that. he literally described their story as “a nightmarish fever dream of inspiration, an arduous ordeal of painstaking creativity.” i understand the want for portrayal of unhealthy bdsm dynamics i guess and the want for people to read gorey horror but it wasn’t even well written??? agnes did not show any signs of being mentally ill to the point that she could be exploited so whole heartedly. i HATED zoe and the fact that she did all of that to agnes - RUINED AGNES’S LIFE - just to see if she could. the only reason this book has 1 star is because the author - unfortunately - has a great grasp on descriptive language and i was able to picture a lot of this really well. 
i do realise that this was a dead dove clearly labeled do not eat and yet i chose to eat the dove anyway. i have read many dd:dne fics and stories before and been fine - i guess this dead dove just wasn’t to my taste. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Child death, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual content, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

unhealthy bdsm dynamics, graphic depiction of a tapeworm and the passing of it, graphic depiction and description of eating raw insect filled meat

acgeorge's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Vomit

questionablereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

I didn't realize this was a collection of three short horror stories but I've broken down my review based on stories, and love the Afterward where the author explains the connection with all three. Overall, I'm glad I finally read this.  

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke - 5 stars
I love the power imbalance at play. It was so sinister and chilling and made me horrified with how warped people behave to hold onto what they deem to be love. 

The Enchantment - 5 stars
This was a bit slow when getting into but after chapter 6 I was hooked.  It is a story surrounding grief and loss, and a struggle/need to hold onto marriage and faith. The ending left my jaw on the floor. 

You'll Find It's Like That All Over - 3 stars
My least favorite story in the collection but enjoyed the language around the need for people pleasing, and the dangers that often leads to. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage and Gaslighting

buttercat42's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Child death, and Gore

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Gore

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Vomit, Cursing, Pregnancy, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Classism, Medical content, Abortion, Terminal illness, Slavery, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Dementia, Abandonment, and Death of parent

itsjustgrumpy's review

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

3.5

You know what? I expected it to be so much more grotesque with the way people were reviewing it. 

It was sad, seeing someone dove wholeheartedly into an unrequited romance with just selfish intent on the other side. And the building dread that forms in the first few pages just continues to compile til the final line.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Pregnancy, Gore, Vomit, and Sexual content

nimbos's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Fast-paced, this book works like a police report of e-mail and message exchange. The format was the first thing that left an impression on me, making the whole plot feel much more impersonal.

What starts as a suspiciously innocent interaction (derived from the naïvety of one of the characters which can sometimes be almost irritating), soon turns into a twisted and dark tale that I couldn't have anticipated. While short, it still retains enough detail that allows the reader to have a vivid (too vivid) image of the events, even appealing to other senses. It's hard for me to find a piece of writing that makes my skin crawl, but this one did exactly that. As much as I found myself frustrated by the end of the book, with many questions unanswered, I think this is one of those cases that teaches you that you don't have to find the meaning behind everything.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, and Medical content

Moderate: Torture and Vomit

trashgobby's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Cursing, Abandonment, and Blood

therealmsroth's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.75

Quick, highly intriguing read. Took a partial point off because of all the unanswered questions. I wanted more... In a good way? Very interesting characters. I wish I could get more of their stories. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Self harm, Suicide, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Sexual content, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

wiktoria_bojda's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Excrement, and Body horror