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Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
14 reviews
molliundera_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
lilybear3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: WTF did I read? I get why people are disgusted, horrified, etc, but isn't that the point? There's just about every CW/TW possible. The ending was confusing in the sense that why on earth did it end like that. My critique is in the characterization. The characters didn't seem realistic in the way they talked to each other in the emails. The Instant Message chats were more believable. This story had more potential to be suspenseful and horrifying, but the pacing was too fast. Their relationship escalated too quickly and it's hard to believe that Agnes would dive so deep into a relationship within, what, like 2 weeks? I looked up the meaning of the ending because I was curious if I missed something, I like that there is discussion surrounding it. 3/5
The Enchantment: I liked this better than the first story. It was truly suspenseful, but the ending was confusing. I am interested in things with religious undertones and I was trying so hard to put the pieces together. It wasn't as climatic as it could've been but I was scared of what would come next. 3/5
You'll Find It's Like That All Over: This story reminded me of The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. I don't know if it's as good as those since it's been a while, but it's similar. I could tell where this story was going since it was familiar, and I don't think that's a bad thing. 3.5/5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement
ashley_books_cats_judo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have to say my expectations were set too high for the horror and grotesque elements after seeing reviews. There were definitely elements that were disturbing like the animal abuse & cuddling the thing that shouldn’t have been cuddled but I had expected more.
The first story was probably my favourite which read as emails and IMs between two women and demonstrated how easily manipulated some people can be why someone they’ve never even met.
The second story follows a couple who isolate on a remote island to recover after their son’s death and someone finds their way to them. This one involved some religious aspects & took some turns I wasn’t expecting. To me, this was really about what we’ll do to make someone else comfortable and how many of our own boundaries we’ll cross.
The final story followed a man who found something in his yard that he believed was out there by a neighbor. This story touched on how far someone will go to be polite.
Overall, I’m glad I read this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Toxic friendship
our_bookish_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I strongly suggested if you are squeamish or detest in depth descriptions of animal or human cruelty that you skip this book.
The first story is very disturbing, gory and unsettling. I barely made it through a couple parts due to the graphic nature, but I just couldn't look away. I loved and hated it all the same.
I wasn't a fan of the last 2 though.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail