Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

19 reviews

tropicalpanda's review against another edition

Too gory and disturbing, I barely made it through the salamander murder and I had to stop when she began describing crucifying a baby in excruciating detail

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Child death, Gore, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

ptrmsschrs's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Excrement, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, and Torture

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Child death, Self harm, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

bunnyprincess's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Homophobia, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Suicide, Vomit, Torture, Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Excrement, Gore, Infertility, and Violence

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

I picked this collection up to complete a reading challenge prompt and given the harsh reviews I've read, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this collection as much as I did. Overall I rate this collection a 4.25 stars. 

The first of the anthology, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, was disgusting to say the least. It touched upon toxic relationships, cyber dating and complete domination over another. I was expecting murder, physical abuse etc. but it went in a different direction entirely. It also played on a specific fear of mine very well. This story was a 4.5 stars. 

The second story, The Enchantment, was a bit of a miss for me personally. In this story, the afterlife has been scientifically disproven and masses of people commit suicide as a result of this. The religious fanaticism was interesting to read as ive never personally experienced this or seen this first hand. But I hated every single character and I felt a little confused about the message it was trying to convey. This story was 4 stars. 

The final story titled, "You'll Find It's Like That All Over" centers a middle-aged man living in the middle of a neighbourhood with his racist husband who hates a foreign neighbour. This one felt like a short story from Shirley Jackson and I quite enjoyed it for that reason. Themes included social niceties, courtesy, and humiliation. I really enjoyed reaching the end of the short story and realising the cyclical narrative structure of this piece, I think this effect really rounds out the story and highlights just how severe this burden is. I rated this a 4.5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

gm_vak's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal cruelty, Torture, Animal death, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

ptitirodactyle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

THGWSWLS: 4,25 stars
The Enchantment: 3 stars
YFILTAO: 3 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Stalking, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.0

the first story out of these three was fine, but the other two were quite boring :/ reading the afterword did make them both a bit clearer, but it doesnt make the stories any more enjoyable. the first one was really well-written and i wanted to know how it would end, but the second story was a little too drawn out, and the third one was just...strange. i also dont know why the third story's main characters husband was described as being racist because he's literally only mentioned. it just feels like a really weird detail about someone we dont ever meet.

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Content Warnings

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

gotabookforeverysituation's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Child abuse, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Minor: Racism

tesshersh's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

3.5

“things have gotten worse” is def the star out of the three, even tho it is the most nauseating one - don’t think the others are really worth the read but they’re quick at least so I don’t feel like my time was completely wasted

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, and Gore