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A review by maiagaia
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Pretty fucked up. Really fucked up, actually.
This book does a great job of exploring the unnaturally fast, close relationships that can be formed between people, especially on the internet, and how that relationship can be manipulated and can hurt people terribly.
However, it falls short on two fronts for me: 1) The way the characters communicate through email and IM. They both sound like they're novelists doing writing exercises. This could have still worked if they each had distinct voices, but they really didn't. 2) It could have used a bit more build up before things turned morbid. Even if it was just an extra email or IM session where the more fragile of the two word vomited about her personal life and issues. Showing how alone she was offline and how willing she was to give herself over to someone she barely knew.
Overall, there was enough good stuff going on to make this interesting and... Well, enjoyable isn't the right word for this sort of story.
This book does a great job of exploring the unnaturally fast, close relationships that can be formed between people, especially on the internet, and how that relationship can be manipulated and can hurt people terribly.
However, it falls short on two fronts for me: 1) The way the characters communicate through email and IM. They both sound like they're novelists doing writing exercises. This could have still worked if they each had distinct voices, but they really didn't. 2) It could have used a bit more build up before things turned morbid. Even if it was just an extra email or IM session where the more fragile of the two word vomited about her personal life and issues. Showing how alone she was offline and how willing she was to give herself over to someone she barely knew.
Overall, there was enough good stuff going on to make this interesting and... Well, enjoyable isn't the right word for this sort of story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit