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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
338 reviews
reallynotconor's review against another edition
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
4.0
This book is heavy; it would be easier to name the trigger warnings that the book doesn't cover.
So a friend of mine asked me if I could get this for her, and I thought the cover looked cool, so I also gave it a read. Due to it being a novella and the format of the text, it only took me an hour and a half to get through it, but wow, that was a lot. The dark tragic love between Agnes and Zoe holds a dark mirror to our own depravity and obsessive tendencies towards those who we see as better than us. The story starts with a simple offer to buy an apple peeler and quickly delves into the dark reality of emotionally abusive relationships, fanaticism and addiction.
The novella only contains two speaking characters, Zoe and Agnes. At the start of the book, Agnes is struggling to pay rent and, in an act of desperation, attempts to sell the only thread she has to her family, the apple peeler. Zoe offers to buy it over email, and after learning about Agnes's financial situation, she sends her money to pay rent, which quickly sparks a friendship between the two that leads to a romantic relationship. Zoe tells Agnes about something her father used to tell her, "Do you deserve your eyes?" which tries to motivate someone to live life in a way that makes them deserve the ability to look at it all.
Their romantic relationship quickly turns sinister when Zoe sends Agnes a slave contract that gives her complete control over all of Agnes's financial and social accounts and pressures Agnes into doing inappropriate things that cost her her job, which makes her financially dependent on Zoe. She also must sleep in the nude with the air conditioning on full blast. Agnes didn't see this as a red flag as she felt free and alive after she was fired, but Agnes quickly expressed how she wants to be a mother, and Zoe told her that she should grab a salamander and walk around with it for a day to experience what holding a life was like, and after the day was done, she would have to kill it.
It isn't until Agnes kills an animal for Zoe that she starts to lose control over Agnes. Agnes cuts contact after she kills the animal, but just as the name entails "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" but not in the way you might think, after a month Agnes has grown to obsess over Zoe and desperately tries to win her back, and When she does, she expresses her desire to be a mother to Zoe's child, which Zoe uses to make her eat a large piece of beef that had been left outside for multiple days in order to contract a tape worm that she named Finneas. Agnes, at this point, has become completely infatuated with Zoe and obsessively contacts her every day, and even when Zoe tries to explain to her that it is just a tape worm that will pass, Agnes believes that it will stay with her forever as her baby. At this point, Zoe understands what she has done and quickly exits Agnes's life, leaving her completely alone and desperate. Similar to the effect of making an addict go cold turkey, Agnes desperately tried to relapse, but without her object of obsession, she drives her hatred inward.
All around, this book made me say "what the fuck" out loud twice, which is more than what I can say for other books, but the pacing of the book was quite off, with it just kind of ending without feeling like a true conclusion.
World 5/10
Characters 7/10
Plot 8/10
overall enjoyment 8/10
So a friend of mine asked me if I could get this for her, and I thought the cover looked cool, so I also gave it a read. Due to it being a novella and the format of the text, it only took me an hour and a half to get through it, but wow, that was a lot. The dark tragic love between Agnes and Zoe holds a dark mirror to our own depravity and obsessive tendencies towards those who we see as better than us. The story starts with a simple offer to buy an apple peeler and quickly delves into the dark reality of emotionally abusive relationships, fanaticism and addiction.
The novella only contains two speaking characters, Zoe and Agnes. At the start of the book, Agnes is struggling to pay rent and, in an act of desperation, attempts to sell the only thread she has to her family, the apple peeler. Zoe offers to buy it over email, and after learning about Agnes's financial situation, she sends her money to pay rent, which quickly sparks a friendship between the two that leads to a romantic relationship. Zoe tells Agnes about something her father used to tell her, "Do you deserve your eyes?" which tries to motivate someone to live life in a way that makes them deserve the ability to look at it all.
Their romantic relationship quickly turns sinister when Zoe sends Agnes a slave contract that gives her complete control over all of Agnes's financial and social accounts and pressures Agnes into doing inappropriate things that cost her her job, which makes her financially dependent on Zoe. She also must sleep in the nude with the air conditioning on full blast. Agnes didn't see this as a red flag as she felt free and alive after she was fired, but Agnes quickly expressed how she wants to be a mother, and Zoe told her that she should grab a salamander and walk around with it for a day to experience what holding a life was like, and after the day was done, she would have to kill it.
It isn't until Agnes kills an animal for Zoe that she starts to lose control over Agnes. Agnes cuts contact after she kills the animal, but just as the name entails "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" but not in the way you might think, after a month Agnes has grown to obsess over Zoe and desperately tries to win her back, and When she does, she expresses her desire to be a mother to Zoe's child, which Zoe uses to make her eat a large piece of beef that had been left outside for multiple days in order to contract a tape worm that she named Finneas. Agnes, at this point, has become completely infatuated with Zoe and obsessively contacts her every day, and even when Zoe tries to explain to her that it is just a tape worm that will pass, Agnes believes that it will stay with her forever as her baby. At this point, Zoe understands what she has done and quickly exits Agnes's life, leaving her completely alone and desperate. Similar to the effect of making an addict go cold turkey, Agnes desperately tried to relapse, but without her object of obsession, she drives her hatred inward.
All around, this book made me say "what the fuck" out loud twice, which is more than what I can say for other books, but the pacing of the book was quite off, with it just kind of ending without feeling like a true conclusion.
World 5/10
Characters 7/10
Plot 8/10
overall enjoyment 8/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Slavery
ladyinverse's review against another edition
yeah i couldn't finish it the moment i heard "the cat and the priest."
i can handle a decent amount of viscera and whatnot but i can't do animal cruelty.
i can handle a decent amount of viscera and whatnot but i can't do animal cruelty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, and Animal death
suekken's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
It's a weird book and not my vibe of horror, almost didn't finish it because it was quite disturbing in way I didn't enjoy.
Not a fan of body horror.
Not a fan of body horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
hick's review against another edition
dark
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia and Abandonment
mylargirl's review against another edition
dark
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
3.0
This is a great little disgusting horror novella about the false sense of intimacy that can arise so quickly in an online relationship and the lengths that damaged, lonely people will go to connect and feel loved at any cost. It's funny, sad, and extremely dark.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse and Homophobia
ezcousins's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
A great portrait of deviance and degeneration. Really messed up and kind of disturbing so if that's your not your thing I would probably skip this one, but if you're into that, or like me don't mind it but don't have a super high tolerance for that kind of thing, this book is great because it's so short and definitely not the most disturbing thing out there. The writing was also great and the format is really interesting and kind of out there. I will say, I initially thought the ending was a bit anticlimactic, but on reflection I think maybe it's supposed to kind of fizzle out like that, like the relationship between the two characters. Sort of ambiguous, but we know exactly what happens at the same time. I also was reading online and didn't expect it to end right then which probably affected it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Body horror
emmdashed's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I should have looked at the Content Warnings for this one lol đŹ
It's probably not the Grossest Book Ever but it's up there and it features Very Graphic Animal and Child Cruelty/Death. And there are some other really gnarly moments of just nasty stuff. And some cringey sexting.
Ultimately I am still not sure how I completely feel about this book. It was both extremely easy to read and extremely difficult to read. You want to know what happens and it's so short you can just inhale it but at the same time the images it paints are disturbing and I found myself just really bummed and grossed out. I think it crosses the line at points into being 2 Edgy 4 U so like.... that's certainly a choice. I found myself wondering what is the point what are we saying why this story. But also I read the whole thing so ???
I think it could either have been longer so we could get more into the characters and why they behaved the way they did. Or it could have been shorter and excised some of the unnecessary anecdotes (like honestly the Little Christ and the Priest and the Cat moments added literally nothing apart from being ~edgy and disturbing ooooo~). The length that it was was just awkward.
Some more spoiler heavy thoughts below:
I honestly could somewhat buy Agnes' immediate devotion to Zoe. It was 0-100 real fast, but it seemed like she was the victim of a lot of emotional abuse in the past, even more than she described. Unfortunately that kind of trauma sometimes leads victims to unintentionally attach themselves to more abusers. (This is not trying to victim blame, abuse is a fucked up cycle that can ruin lives). It almost felt like a Cult Initiation story with this vulnerable woman being caught by this leader and the mentality/lifestyle Zoe offered her?? Not sure where I'm going with it but ???
I was more bothered by the speed at which the Tapeworm grew like... it takes weeks not days. Especially for them to get that big. But maybe I'm just pedantic.
Also.... I feel bad for Agnes' roommate while all this nonsense is going on like. Your roommate is keeping rotting meat and eating it like that would stink up the house at the very least. Besides all the other weird behavior lol.
TLDR: idk this was a weird one and I can't say if it's good or bad. Bummed me out but I've been thinking about it for days. Blades of Glory says it best.
"Nobody knows what it means but it's provocative. It's gets the people going."
It's probably not the Grossest Book Ever but it's up there and it features Very Graphic Animal and Child Cruelty/Death. And there are some other really gnarly moments of just nasty stuff. And some cringey sexting.
Ultimately I am still not sure how I completely feel about this book. It was both extremely easy to read and extremely difficult to read. You want to know what happens and it's so short you can just inhale it but at the same time the images it paints are disturbing and I found myself just really bummed and grossed out. I think it crosses the line at points into being 2 Edgy 4 U so like.... that's certainly a choice. I found myself wondering what is the point what are we saying why this story. But also I read the whole thing so ???
I think it could either have been longer so we could get more into the characters and why they behaved the way they did. Or it could have been shorter and excised some of the unnecessary anecdotes (like honestly the Little Christ and the Priest and the Cat moments added literally nothing apart from being ~edgy and disturbing ooooo~). The length that it was was just awkward.
Some more spoiler heavy thoughts below:
I was more bothered by the speed at which the Tapeworm grew like... it takes weeks not days. Especially for them to get that big. But maybe I'm just pedantic.
Also.... I feel bad for Agnes' roommate while all this nonsense is going on like. Your roommate is keeping rotting meat and eating it like that would stink up the house at the very least. Besides all the other weird behavior lol.
TLDR: idk this was a weird one and I can't say if it's good or bad. Bummed me out but I've been thinking about it for days. Blades of Glory says it best.
"Nobody knows what it means but it's provocative. It's gets the people going."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Death, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, War, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Miscarriage
Minor: Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Not sure about the severity ratings but I tried to put as many of these as I can. I cannot stress enough that this book gets r o u g h. The animal and child death stood out particularly to me but other bits might bother other people.loz_reads11's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Emotional abuse
bloomlove's review against another edition
dark
medium-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
Literally only writing a review of this book to say DO NOT READ THIS. Itâs terrible awful vile and disgusting I would not recommend this to anyone just save yourself and donât even go near it. Donât even look this books way itâs not worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Mental illness, Death, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Blood, and Gore
minty_drops'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
2.5
I get that the author is a member of the queer community but I feel that it isnât the place of a non-lesbian to write a torture porn novella surrounding the struggles of a manipulative lesbian relationship. Also for all the talk regarding horrific gore, it feels like itâs written by middle school boys trying to one up each other but doing so very poorly and without meaning. Itâs too fast paced to an unrealistic extent, I could barely differentiate Agnes and Zoe since they have to defining traits, and it feels driven by mediocre shock factor.
It was an interesting concept that with better care and the proper story teller could be expanded on beautifully. The only part that stuck with me was the quote âWhat have you done to deserve your eyes?â Which I wish was further expanded on.
It was an interesting concept that with better care and the proper story teller could be expanded on beautifully. The only part that stuck with me was the quote âWhat have you done to deserve your eyes?â Which I wish was further expanded on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Violence, Sexual content, Slavery, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexism, Self harm, and Child death
Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia