Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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

36 reviews

lauriebird's review

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

2.25

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Misogyny, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Classism, and Gaslighting

janey_bones's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Woah. The wildest story I've read in a while. Grotesque, weird, outlandish. I loved it! The pace, the style, the whole thing was crazy! 🪱

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit

acgeorge's review

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Gore, Child death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Vomit

maggieoc_x's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Murder and Gore

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Homophobia

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

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

mr_cain's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

underwhelmingly mediocre. each story had a strong premise and each failed to deliver any kind of interesting, tense, or emotional conclusion. The first two were quite gross--i guess for the shock value?--but weren't scary. Just yucky.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Miscarriage, and Vomit

peckreadsbooks's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Child death, Suicide, Murder, Vomit, Grief, Death, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Miscarriage, Murder, Self harm, and Pregnancy

courtneypaigea's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Grief, Animal death, Death, and Miscarriage

claudiacridge'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: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Torture, and Body horror