Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

61 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

m0onb3am's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.5

unsettling; ended abruptly but i can't tell if that adds or detracts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Body horror, Animal death, Mental illness, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

kamxoxo's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Vomit

cloud_z's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Medical content, Self harm, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

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

missgrangerr's review against another edition

Due to the animal abuse, mental abuse, and overall writing of this novella I had to put it down. Just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, and Animal death

tibcanread's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

1.25

I hate giving 1 star reviews, but I couldn't stand this book even more. I read this for a horror book club pick and I'm going to be honest, I just skimmed the last story. I couldn't anymore. It was gross. Not even in a fun way, just gross. I actually felt sick to my stomach reading some of these nasty descriptions. And what was the obsession with pregnancy in the first two stories? Like, why? Really.  

I found no real redeeming quality in this collection. The writing was not great (if I hear someone spooned something ever again it will be too soon, and how do ears furrow exactly??) It's only January 9th and I'm pretty sure this is going to the top of the worst books I read list for 2024 already. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Animal death, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Gore, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Child death

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

mcc004's review against another edition

Extremely gruesome depictions of murder of children and animals, as well as overarching domestic abuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Animal death

bee_03'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

2.75

everything after the conversation on 07/31/2000 was not what i was expecting. the whole fifth act left me deeply disturbed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Gore, and Toxic relationship