Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

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

338 reviews

katelynmill2's review against another edition

dark 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

This book has a cool concept and I liked the format. I read this very quickly and reading their emails/messages was intriguing.

Ultimately I couldn’t stomach this book. If I had a stronger stomach, I think I wouldn’t liked this book more.

The meat is what got me.

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juniper1312's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

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irelivar's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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thetruthatallhazards's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

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roach's review against another edition

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dark sad 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

And as I'm left standing there [...], I wonder to myself, "Does it matter? Does any of this really matter?"
The answer's no.
The answer's always been no.

I never could really get into this and I understand why the opinions about this are so divided.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke has an interesting, simple premise of following the problematic relationship of two women exclusively via e-mails and chat logs. It's all presented like a true crime text with parts being omitted at the request of the police and due to legal proceedings still going on. All of that could make for a really cool atmosphere and tone, but it never really capitalizes on it. This choice of presentation didn't end up actually adding that much to the story and the way the characters are written, or rather the things they say, felt out of place exactly because of that framing.
All the e-mails the characters send each other are written in this flowery and extensive prose that didn't seem like natural conversations at all. The characters don't just exchange information, they tell each other whole stories. They write walls of texts of professionally edited anecdotes and go out of their way to embellish them with colorful prose. Like two overcompensating actors doing overly dramatic, corny monologs instead of two people having conversations.
It went directly against the true crime framing of candid online correspondence.

Additionally, the characters seem like flat stereotypes of traumatized people, unable to form healthy relationships. The book is way too short to believably paint the characters and actually justify their questionable decisions, which ends up making the extremes rather comical.
It was almost impossible for me to empathize with the main character because she falls way too hard and way too quickly for the obvious and ridiculous abuse that's offered to her without believable reasoning or much of, if any, self-reflection. And with every step she took, I was just asking myself "why?".

And before you know it, the story ends. I didn't feel like I got much out of it. It's flimsily structured torture porn that fails to come across as authentic or believable in any way.
It wasn't the worst book I read though. The core concepts had potential. Also, some bonus points for the parasite/insect stuff, I guess.

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