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A review by haileylouise
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
challenging
dark
sad
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
0.0
This was absolutely one of the worst things I’ve read.
I decided to pick this up while I was watching indie horror game play-throughs (Fears to Fathom) on YouTube. And it felt more like an unfiltered crazy gory story one of your friends heard about and told you because they were bored one day. Especially with the scenes of Agnes describing the salamander, the priest and the cat, and the baby christ stories. This book was depicted as a piece of true crime, however these events are not real. It was an interesting concept to go through all of the emails and chat room things (reminded me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder), but lacked so much in what could have been a better plot and understanding of wlw relationships. While the author could have gotten away with using the mental health illnesses both characters had to explain the Dom/Sub contracting, Agnes wanting to bear children, and the whole tapeworm fiasco, those aspects were still poorly executed. Or maybe there’s just so little detail about Zoe, that makes it more horrible.
After Agnes tells Zoe that she wants to meet and Zoe says no, I immediately thought to myself that she said no because they aren’t actually “Zoe” or a woman, but a creepy old man preying on a random person online to live out their Fifty Shades fantasy. It’s also the fact that we never get details about Zoe, Agnes sent a picture of herself to Zoe after the red dress task.
Another point I wanted to bring up was Agnes wanting to bear children while also explicitly stating that she’s gay and that she’s contemplated suicide before. I am so unsure if that’s even a possibility for someone without any negative consequences. It’s one thing to want to have children while in a same sex relationship but also a complete 180 to equate a tapeworm parasite to a pregnancy. There was no mention of like even talking about other options like insemination or anything, just straight into “I love you but we can’t have a baby together, but I will get tapeworm for you.” It was just so frustrating to me.
I also believe that it’s one thing to be so traumatized and to romanticize this person who’s offered you more help than you deserve, but another to blatantly listen and follow every single thing they tell you to do out of love that further harms your work life, physical health, and mental health whilst also knowing you’ve been suicidal/contemplated suicide before.
The only thing this book made me feel was disgusted with the random horror stories Agnes told and how it had so much potential to be good, had it been worked on for longer and with more research done on what wlw are actually like and not some male fantasy/male gaze on wlw relationships.
I decided to pick this up while I was watching indie horror game play-throughs (Fears to Fathom) on YouTube. And it felt more like an unfiltered crazy gory story one of your friends heard about and told you because they were bored one day. Especially with the scenes of Agnes describing the salamander, the priest and the cat, and the baby christ stories. This book was depicted as a piece of true crime, however these events are not real. It was an interesting concept to go through all of the emails and chat room things (reminded me of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder), but lacked so much in what could have been a better plot and understanding of wlw relationships. While the author could have gotten away with using the mental health illnesses both characters had to explain the Dom/Sub contracting, Agnes wanting to bear children, and the whole tapeworm fiasco, those aspects were still poorly executed. Or maybe there’s just so little detail about Zoe, that makes it more horrible.
After Agnes tells Zoe that she wants to meet and Zoe says no, I immediately thought to myself that she said no because they aren’t actually “Zoe” or a woman, but a creepy old man preying on a random person online to live out their Fifty Shades fantasy. It’s also the fact that we never get details about Zoe, Agnes sent a picture of herself to Zoe after the red dress task.
Another point I wanted to bring up was Agnes wanting to bear children while also explicitly stating that she’s gay and that she’s contemplated suicide before. I am so unsure if that’s even a possibility for someone without any negative consequences. It’s one thing to want to have children while in a same sex relationship but also a complete 180 to equate a tapeworm parasite to a pregnancy. There was no mention of like even talking about other options like insemination or anything, just straight into “I love you but we can’t have a baby together, but I will get tapeworm for you.” It was just so frustrating to me.
I also believe that it’s one thing to be so traumatized and to romanticize this person who’s offered you more help than you deserve, but another to blatantly listen and follow every single thing they tell you to do out of love that further harms your work life, physical health, and mental health whilst also knowing you’ve been suicidal/contemplated suicide before.
The only thing this book made me feel was disgusted with the random horror stories Agnes told and how it had so much potential to be good, had it been worked on for longer and with more research done on what wlw are actually like and not some male fantasy/male gaze on wlw relationships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia