Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

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

106 reviews

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

3.75

I really don't know how to rate this... I just rated each of the individual stories in the book and averaged the ratings.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke - 3 stars
The Enchantment - 4.5 stars
You'll Find It's Like That All Over - 4 stars
The average doesn't exactly come out to 3.75, but it's close enough to what that average is. But anyway, I don't really want to say that I enjoyed this, because enjoy is definitely not what I felt while reading this. It was still really good, though! Things Have Gotten Worse was a lot to digest, and I also don't know if I want to? It's just a very complicated reading experience, but it was still really good! The last two stories were really good too, and I liked those even more than the first one. I think that's because, while I thought Things Have Gotten Worse was really good, I didn't really enjoy the reading experience. I had more fun with the other two. That being said, I really, really liked it! I definitely want to read everything this author writes! I have a very complicated relationship to horror, where I like reading it, but I don't necessarily enjoy reading it. I don't think I'm explaining it very well, but this book fit very snuggly into that for me. However, I really liked it, and would recommend it (at least to people who like this kind of thing and have looked at the trigger warnings!!!).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Homophobia

dy_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

amberlikesreading's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

the stories were interesting, I could do without the second one. But, going in not knowing anything, especially about the “Things have gotten worse…” story I was intrigued by the set up and somewhat surprised it wasn’t a true story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Racism and Injury/Injury detail

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

summersunautumnrain's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I wish all the gore without real context in this book would have been somewhat reduced. Definitely scarred me tho.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Child death and Suicide

themeadowlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

An interesting concept with some really badly done writing. 

I wish I could give this a higher rating because it was viscerally disturbing and unique. However, the writing fell extremely flat for me, and the overall story seemed rushed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

rosage's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

after reading the afterword it all makes much more sense. each piece left me with something to think about and sit on for a bit. this is a book i would recommend reading in parts instead of flying through like i did. you need that time to process the meaning behind each one and to see how the connect. i’ve decided to include my initial thoughts i wrote for each one just so i can go back and read them again later if i want. 

-things have gotten worse: honestly, i wish it was longer. i felt as though there were some lose ends that i would like to see tied up. i know she died but how? did she go back to work? i would also like to have seen more of their relationship and how that played into everything. i love that it was told through dms and emails though. it’s such an interesting way to tell a story. i wish it was done more often. 

-the enchantment: i really don’t have much to say for this one. personally i wish there had been more to it. it was a lot of religion and talk of christianity that i don’t really understand. her penance for “attempted murder of an angel” is to stay in purgatory for a while?? i think?? the scene with the flood was freaky though it scared me a little. 

-you’ll find that it’s like that all over: huh? just a bunch of bets to show why we should be polite? i don’t fully get it i don’t think

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

hunkydory's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

mik_yekcuts'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Feels like the author hates women, first and foremost. All the “horror” elements felt forced and gratuitous. Tried too hard to be edgy and shocking but the characters were not well developed enough for any of it to land. The repeated theme of crucifixion and pregnancy felt almost fetishistic, and was definitely redundant and out of place. I will say that I finished the first two very quickly but sadly was let down both times and really had to push myself to read the third story, anticipating disappointment again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

ishouldreadthat's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Check out more book reviews and content here!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.

Intense, provocative, weird. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes is a book I'd been desperate to get my hands on ever since I first heard about it on social media. What did I think of it? It's gross, uncomfortable, chock full of body horror, and absolutely fantastic.

This is a book that wont click with everyone - I urge readers to check content warnings before picking it up- and I definitely wouldn't recommend it to non-horror readers. But for readers like me who enjoy reading books that push boundaries and touch on uncomfortable topics, THGWSWLS is a great read. It's fast-paced and utterly compelling, combining a literary writing style with some serious disturbing content.

There are three stories in this volume -- the titular THGWSWLS is definitely the strongest of the three. It's a story of a relationship spiraling into darkness told via chat logs and emails, with a hint of serious consequences. I can absolutely see why it became such a phenomenon within the horror community and was propelled into the mainstream. The other two stories feel a little like they sit in THGWSWLS's shadow. They were good and well written, but there is a lot that makes the titular novella feel unique.

This collection is thought-provoking, disturbing, and will sit in your mind long after you finish. I would highly recommend it to seasoned horror readers - it is perfect for your spooky season TBR.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Miscarriage, and Suicide