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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
339 reviews
cat_astrophicallybookish's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Gaslighting
tinyjude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
I had read some vague stuff about how disturbing this book could be, but I was definitely not prepared for whatever the fck this was. I am beyond disgusted. I can enjoy horrible fictional stories but this seems to be out of my taste completely. I just felt so sick and ready to throw up while reading it.
I can understand how someone in such a vulnerable state can go down that route and spiral so fast but the stories (like the baby jesus christ I'M PRAYING THIS NEVER HAPPENED IN REAL LIFE WTF WTF WTF) where way too much for me and too fast. The relationship barely develops, suddenly the convo turns "sexy" but feels more like 50 shades of grey bad ff (eugh) and then THAT. I won't spoil but, just, NO.
The ending was confusing but reading some theories about the cover, I got my horrifying answer 😳 100% not for me.
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
clovetra's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Medical content
Minor: Homophobia
toadscreams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Blood
calhudak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Self harm, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Body horror, Infertility, and Racism
avajlw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Medical content, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
marcostorin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content and Kidnapping
brynniek's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, and Excrement
muppetincrisis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia
05olivia15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Yes, I gave it 4 stars. But I do not recommend anyone read this book ever.
This book made me physically nauseous to read. I read this whole book in a day because I knew if I set it down and allowed myself to think about picking it up again, I wouldn't have the stomach to do it.
An absolutely fucked early 2000s era epistolary novel, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke chronicles the emails and instant message logs between Zoe and Agnes who meet on a craigslist-esque LGBT forum. Agnes is estranged from her family, underemployed, and financially screwed. Zoe is mysterious, wealthy, and has a penchant for cruelty. What follows is a train wreck that I wished I could look away from the entire time.
The horror of this book comes from 2 fronts: The first and most obvious is the body horror that basically shows up from the very beginning of the book. I'm not going to quote anything or go into detail, but trust me, it's foul.
The second comes from the eery-sick feeling that this could have happened to the friends I knew as teenagers. That this cautionary tale was narrowly avoided through luck rather than skill. Being an emotional vulnerable queer with an unmonitored internet connection is billed as something empowering, a way to find community outside of your shitty hometown, to give you hope for a future that you can see happening in a city near you. But it can also lead you to places like this. Lonely corners of the internet where people with no power in their real lives decide to create some by dominating someone even weaker, someone hundreds of miles away. The real fear of this novel came from the lingering thought that had a charismatic Zoe found me in cyberspace when I was at my most vulnerable and wrote me poetry about apple peelers and undeserving eyes, I could have ended up an Agnes too-- consumed from the outside in.
The lesson of this book for me (if there even is one) is about how oftentimes victims and perpetrators have more in common than we are comfortable admitting. That desperate and lonely people are just as prone to hurt each other as they are to lift each other up. That words on a computer screen can be just as persuasive as those you hear from people in real life. That people will, unfortunately, do anything for love.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy