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

I really had high hopes for a book. First of all, the cover is gorgeous! Congratulations to the artist because that cover really drew me in and kept me going.

I love to read queer literature ~~even if the characters are morally grey or ambiguous.~~ However, I feel there is something… “icky” about the way the author wrote about the woman that I feel falls into the evil lesbian trope. I found that their motivations within the story were not often clear. I feel like it it was written to shock but not provoke the reader to look into the characters. Perhaps he wrote the shock value to distract from what little personality he gave both women? I think this story is so underwhelming for what could have been a truly remarkable premise. Neither woman has a unique voice and honestly, they sound like they’re writing in an into to philosophy course. S.Penkevich said it right when they mentioned that this could’ve been a story that examined class and power dynamics and could’ve given a deeper look into Agnes’ vulnerabilities.

I think it’s also important to note in this story that both women are equally manipulative and manipulated. Agnes and Zoe both use love bombing and silence as punishment. However, Agnes repeatedly reaches out to Zoe (in a way that feels very “lesbians have mommy issues” but I digress) and begs for love while Zoe’s affection is contingent on Agnes completing her tasks. Once Agnes does and becomes obsessed with the relationship between the two of them, Zoe becomes disinterested which leaves Agnes presumably devastated. However, to get to this conclusion, the story meanders through nothingness. I set this book down a few times; not because I was disturbed but because I was incredibly bored.

As I stated, this could’ve been a great book! This book has so much potential. It is disturbing to a point but the prose was just too distracting for me. I feel like if the author gave himself more time to truly develop a voice and personality for both women and delve further into the manipulation and desires for both women, this could’ve been an amazing novel.

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judah_g's review against another edition

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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

5.0

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angstyweeaboo's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

3.0

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saj04's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

3.5

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from_paradise's review against another edition

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dark 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

2.5

girl so many parts to this could have been SO good but they were all done so half-heartedly... disappointing

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mountainfox's review against another edition

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sad tense 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

2.0

What the f*** did I just read?

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hanniballecter's review against another edition

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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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lorie266's review against another edition

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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

3.25

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