Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

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

53 reviews

hanniballecter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

when i first read this book, it changed my brain chemistry. it's so genuinely special to me and, like, the first ever fucked up lesbian shit ive seen in my life. rereading it, though, its kinda mid honestly. one of those books thatd be better if it was written by an actual lesbian.

i adore the writing style, the descriptions, the poetry of it all; it's visceral, haunting, and has stuck with me since i first read it.

i still think a lot about when agnes so joyfully told zoe she finally had their "child" (a tapeworm). also, "fuck you. fuck you and your honesty." will forever stick with me, holy shit.

but, on the other hand, the chat message dialogue is kinda clunky and i dislike how it's advertised as mutual obsession when it's just zoe abusing agnes. the author's notes and the whole police report aspect are wholly unnecessary in my opinion, too; i feel the ending and the characters' fates should've been left ambiguous. it would've made the book, as a whole, hit a whole lot harder. i think describing the bdsm contract as "tortuous" in one of the author's notes was kinda stupid.

all in all, i greatly recommend this, but don't go into it expecting a mutually destructive relationship full of rotting gardenias and parasites and disturbing dreams. it's abuse, but it's poetic abuse. i think i would've liked this one more had i not been misled and had it not had those stupid ass author's notes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Body horror, Slavery, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Self harm, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia

laurianeisreading's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Torture, Self harm, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Miscarriage and Lesbophobia

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Gore

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Vomit, Cursing, Pregnancy, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Classism, Medical content, Abortion, Terminal illness, Slavery, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Dementia, Abandonment, and Death of parent

anna_readssbooks'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

3.0

What the actual fuck was this
lmao 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Slavery, Suicide, Excrement, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

steffivandewouw's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Pregnancy, Slavery, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Animal death, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Outing, Lesbophobia, Death, and Vomit

nimbos's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Fast-paced, this book works like a police report of e-mail and message exchange. The format was the first thing that left an impression on me, making the whole plot feel much more impersonal.

What starts as a suspiciously innocent interaction (derived from the naïvety of one of the characters which can sometimes be almost irritating), soon turns into a twisted and dark tale that I couldn't have anticipated. While short, it still retains enough detail that allows the reader to have a vivid (too vivid) image of the events, even appealing to other senses. It's hard for me to find a piece of writing that makes my skin crawl, but this one did exactly that. As much as I found myself frustrated by the end of the book, with many questions unanswered, I think this is one of those cases that teaches you that you don't have to find the meaning behind everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, and Medical content

Moderate: Torture and Vomit

therealmsroth's review

dark mysterious tense 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

4.75

Quick, highly intriguing read. Took a partial point off because of all the unanswered questions. I wanted more... In a good way? Very interesting characters. I wish I could get more of their stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Self harm, Suicide, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Infertility, Sexual content, Body horror, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

sleepylit'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A really good read! Kept me hooked the whole way through. A lot of people dislike it, and I see why, but I love psychological horror like this, so it was right up my alley. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Slavery, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Suicide

alexalily's review against another edition

dark tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Vomit, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

autumnwhite's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Violence, Vomit, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gore, Body horror, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Lesbophobia