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Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
15 reviews
quoth_thepaperraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Confinement
tropicalpanda's review against another edition
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
lordslag's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Child death, Pregnancy, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death, and Vomit
jesscoast's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The other stories were dark and sad though I won’t say they’ll be nearly as memorable to me.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Gore, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Self harm
madelinequinne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Violence, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
likeagilmoregirl'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
2.0
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
wellreadandhalfdead'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
1.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Body horror, Self harm, and Animal death
Moderate: Mental illness and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia and Vomit
zuuizai'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
2.5
The first story was the best of the three. I really understood and thought that both Agnes and Zoe were well fleshed out characters. I also enjoyed both the theme of religion and the need for human connection in all of the stories.
I felt like the other stories were missing something. The enchantment especially. It felt like a lot was left out. For example, why did Olive and her son have black circles on their hands. It just felt slightly pointless and like the author wasn't sure where the story was going.
I think this book highly lacks in the horror department. It just seemed like the author was trying to throw in as many disturbing things as he could for shock value. I understand that horror does that a lot as a genre, but it was still highly ineffective. Most of the scenes which were meant to be 'scary' just made me think "ew, thats gross".
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Excrement, and Suicide
xwritingstoriesx'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
4.25
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Torture, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
morganpearcy's review against another edition
4.5
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
At first, I was surprisingly aroused. Who doesn’t love an intense queer love story!? Then, I was shocked. Then, I was utterly disgusted and fascinated. This one was a fucking trip. 😳 I relished the grotesqueness of it very, very much. Even though I wanted to vomit at times, I couldn’t put it down, and I couldn’t look away. That’s how you know it’s a damned good horror short.
The Enchantment
This was a dark and emotional read for me. I did NOT see the end coming. I felt the sadness, anger, frustration, and arousal of these characters. Could not stop reading until I was done with the short. This was really perfection on so many levels. Be prepared with tissues at the very end.
You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over
More queer characters. I flew through this story, although it was my least favorite of the three, by far. I definitely felt the tension of this one building in my chest until the very end. I love it when authors don’t wrap the ending up in a nice little bow - letting the reader fill in their own ideas. This did that really well.
Definitely check the CW before reading to ensure that you can stomach the content.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Death, Slavery, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Gore, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, and Self harm