A review by spcandybars
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

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

1.75

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I can tell that what really took me out of this was the epistolary format. There’s absolutely no relationship development - you can’t even tell they’re becoming enamored with each other before it jumps to the unreasonable.

 I understand that both of these people are clearly mentally ill but even before the severity of that was revealed to us, I couldn’t follow along with how fast they were moving. If the initial messages had a flirtier tone or something that actually hinted towards attraction or trying to know each other, I could have been more on board but they barely said anything. If I could sense more attraction in the early interactions, I feel like I would be less irritated by the progression of events and more invested in the breakdown of the characters. 

The second half is decent -
I really wasn’t expecting that she would die by her own hand and it’s interesting because the way it’s written makes you think “oh this girl is so dumb, she deserves to get killed if she just walks back into this after seeing how sick of a person this is”. It was interesting to discover that she was actually the more depraved one.
The concept is interesting, I just don’t think this format was executed in the way it needed to be for this story to be as engrossing as the author probably wanted it to be. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings