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

dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

2.5

I was extremely excited to read this book due to all of the wonderful things I have heard about it. I ended up disappointed. There was a couple of things I did enjoy though. I loved the formatting of the book, and the ideas were interesting enough to keep me reading until the end. 

The first story was the best of the three. I really understood and thought that both Agnes and Zoe were well fleshed out characters. I also enjoyed both the theme of religion and the need for human connection in all of the stories.

I felt like the other stories were missing something. The enchantment especially. It felt like a lot was left out. For example, why did Olive and her son have black circles on their hands. It just felt slightly pointless and like the author wasn't sure where the story was going. 

I think this book highly lacks in the horror department. It just seemed like the author was trying to throw in as many disturbing things as he could for shock value. I understand that horror does that a lot as a genre, but it was still highly ineffective. Most of the scenes which were meant to be 'scary' just made me think "ew, thats gross". 
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