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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
105 reviews
melliedm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
1. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is a gruesome epistolary story connecting two women through email and text message where their quickly dread-inducing kink relationship becomes a nausea-inducing horror-show on the desperation people have to love and be loved. Truly disgusting and I could never bring myself to read it again, but it was the best story in the collection.
2. The Enchantment follows an estranged couple as they act as caretakers for an island hotel the winter after their son’s suicide. Heavy religious themes might resonate more with other readers, but they didn’t with me. The beats in this one read more like the author wanted very much for this to be a screenplay and not a short story. It felt a little like other familiar stories in the horror canon put into a blender? My least favourite of the bunch.
3. It’s Like This All Over was mildly interesting. A man finds something strange in his yard and politely confronts his aloof neighbour about it, and then finds himself unable to refuse the neighbour’s invitations. The way the author presented the protagonist’s perspective seemed to have the opposite effect as was intended. By the end I got the sense we were supposed to very much view him as an insert that any of us could very well be, but there was a strange depersonalizations of him that made it difficult. Perhaps it was that he never has a first name, and is only “Mr. (Surname)”, which in my mind has a way of othering someone. I also would have liked to spend more time with the protagonist actually engaging with the neighbour, the escalation seemed far too sudden.
Overall an enjoyable collection of disturbing tales, and quick to read in a single dark evening alone.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
cantfindmybookmark's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
morganpearcy's review
4.5
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
At first, I was surprisingly aroused. Who doesn’t love an intense queer love story!? Then, I was shocked. Then, I was utterly disgusted and fascinated. This one was a fucking trip. 😳 I relished the grotesqueness of it very, very much. Even though I wanted to vomit at times, I couldn’t put it down, and I couldn’t look away. That’s how you know it’s a damned good horror short.
The Enchantment
This was a dark and emotional read for me. I did NOT see the end coming. I felt the sadness, anger, frustration, and arousal of these characters. Could not stop reading until I was done with the short. This was really perfection on so many levels. Be prepared with tissues at the very end.
You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over
More queer characters. I flew through this story, although it was my least favorite of the three, by far. I definitely felt the tension of this one building in my chest until the very end. I love it when authors don’t wrap the ending up in a nice little bow - letting the reader fill in their own ideas. This did that really well.
Definitely check the CW before reading to ensure that you can stomach the content.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
gm_vak's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
kattrent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Homophobia
amberbjorge's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Homophobia
I had to pause multiple times while reading this book because it gave me the creeps. Great storytelling in an interesting way.foremmarightnow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt
libbywibby's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
ptitirodactyle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Enchantment: 3 stars
YFILTAO: 3 stars
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
parasolcrafter's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail