autumnwhite's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gore, Body horror, Animal death, Suicide, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, and Lesbophobia
kirakomrade's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, and Animal death
wends_nblw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'll say this : while it didn't live to its hype, I really enjoyed it.
I expected it to be written differently, but it didn't hinder my ability to enjoy the story. I found Agnes and Zoe's relationship to be fascinating alongside Agnes' descent into madness. I do wish there had been an aftermath, or just a longer story. I wish it hadn't gone so fast since I really wanted their relationship to slowly build into horror, but yk. We can't win everything.
All in all, a great story. I'm excited to see similar works by LaRocca. :3c
I expected it to be written differently, but it didn't hinder my ability to enjoy the story. I found Agnes and Zoe's relationship to be fascinating alongside Agnes' descent into madness. I do wish there had been an aftermath, or just a longer story. I wish it hadn't gone so fast since I really wanted their relationship to slowly build into horror, but yk. We can't win everything.
All in all, a great story. I'm excited to see similar works by LaRocca. :3c
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, Child death, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Body horror, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Suicide
reallynotconor's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is heavy; it would be easier to name the trigger warnings that the book doesn't cover.
So a friend of mine asked me if I could get this for her, and I thought the cover looked cool, so I also gave it a read. Due to it being a novella and the format of the text, it only took me an hour and a half to get through it, but wow, that was a lot. The dark tragic love between Agnes and Zoe holds a dark mirror to our own depravity and obsessive tendencies towards those who we see as better than us. The story starts with a simple offer to buy an apple peeler and quickly delves into the dark reality of emotionally abusive relationships, fanaticism and addiction.
The novella only contains two speaking characters, Zoe and Agnes. At the start of the book, Agnes is struggling to pay rent and, in an act of desperation, attempts to sell the only thread she has to her family, the apple peeler. Zoe offers to buy it over email, and after learning about Agnes's financial situation, she sends her money to pay rent, which quickly sparks a friendship between the two that leads to a romantic relationship. Zoe tells Agnes about something her father used to tell her, "Do you deserve your eyes?" which tries to motivate someone to live life in a way that makes them deserve the ability to look at it all.
Their romantic relationship quickly turns sinister when Zoe sends Agnes a slave contract that gives her complete control over all of Agnes's financial and social accounts and pressures Agnes into doing inappropriate things that cost her her job, which makes her financially dependent on Zoe. She also must sleep in the nude with the air conditioning on full blast. Agnes didn't see this as a red flag as she felt free and alive after she was fired, but Agnes quickly expressed how she wants to be a mother, and Zoe told her that she should grab a salamander and walk around with it for a day to experience what holding a life was like, and after the day was done, she would have to kill it.
It isn't until Agnes kills an animal for Zoe that she starts to lose control over Agnes. Agnes cuts contact after she kills the animal, but just as the name entails "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" but not in the way you might think, after a month Agnes has grown to obsess over Zoe and desperately tries to win her back, and When she does, she expresses her desire to be a mother to Zoe's child, which Zoe uses to make her eat a large piece of beef that had been left outside for multiple days in order to contract a tape worm that she named Finneas. Agnes, at this point, has become completely infatuated with Zoe and obsessively contacts her every day, and even when Zoe tries to explain to her that it is just a tape worm that will pass, Agnes believes that it will stay with her forever as her baby. At this point, Zoe understands what she has done and quickly exits Agnes's life, leaving her completely alone and desperate. Similar to the effect of making an addict go cold turkey, Agnes desperately tried to relapse, but without her object of obsession, she drives her hatred inward.
All around, this book made me say "what the fuck" out loud twice, which is more than what I can say for other books, but the pacing of the book was quite off, with it just kind of ending without feeling like a true conclusion.
World 5/10
Characters 7/10
Plot 8/10
overall enjoyment 8/10
So a friend of mine asked me if I could get this for her, and I thought the cover looked cool, so I also gave it a read. Due to it being a novella and the format of the text, it only took me an hour and a half to get through it, but wow, that was a lot. The dark tragic love between Agnes and Zoe holds a dark mirror to our own depravity and obsessive tendencies towards those who we see as better than us. The story starts with a simple offer to buy an apple peeler and quickly delves into the dark reality of emotionally abusive relationships, fanaticism and addiction.
The novella only contains two speaking characters, Zoe and Agnes. At the start of the book, Agnes is struggling to pay rent and, in an act of desperation, attempts to sell the only thread she has to her family, the apple peeler. Zoe offers to buy it over email, and after learning about Agnes's financial situation, she sends her money to pay rent, which quickly sparks a friendship between the two that leads to a romantic relationship. Zoe tells Agnes about something her father used to tell her, "Do you deserve your eyes?" which tries to motivate someone to live life in a way that makes them deserve the ability to look at it all.
Their romantic relationship quickly turns sinister when Zoe sends Agnes a slave contract that gives her complete control over all of Agnes's financial and social accounts and pressures Agnes into doing inappropriate things that cost her her job, which makes her financially dependent on Zoe. She also must sleep in the nude with the air conditioning on full blast. Agnes didn't see this as a red flag as she felt free and alive after she was fired, but Agnes quickly expressed how she wants to be a mother, and Zoe told her that she should grab a salamander and walk around with it for a day to experience what holding a life was like, and after the day was done, she would have to kill it.
It isn't until Agnes kills an animal for Zoe that she starts to lose control over Agnes. Agnes cuts contact after she kills the animal, but just as the name entails "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" but not in the way you might think, after a month Agnes has grown to obsess over Zoe and desperately tries to win her back, and When she does, she expresses her desire to be a mother to Zoe's child, which Zoe uses to make her eat a large piece of beef that had been left outside for multiple days in order to contract a tape worm that she named Finneas. Agnes, at this point, has become completely infatuated with Zoe and obsessively contacts her every day, and even when Zoe tries to explain to her that it is just a tape worm that will pass, Agnes believes that it will stay with her forever as her baby. At this point, Zoe understands what she has done and quickly exits Agnes's life, leaving her completely alone and desperate. Similar to the effect of making an addict go cold turkey, Agnes desperately tried to relapse, but without her object of obsession, she drives her hatred inward.
All around, this book made me say "what the fuck" out loud twice, which is more than what I can say for other books, but the pacing of the book was quite off, with it just kind of ending without feeling like a true conclusion.
World 5/10
Characters 7/10
Plot 8/10
overall enjoyment 8/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Slavery
ephemeral_remi's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Homophobia, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Vomit, and Death
minty_drops's review against another edition
dark
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
2.5
I get that the author is a member of the queer community but I feel that it isn’t the place of a non-lesbian to write a torture porn novella surrounding the struggles of a manipulative lesbian relationship. Also for all the talk regarding horrific gore, it feels like it’s written by middle school boys trying to one up each other but doing so very poorly and without meaning. It’s too fast paced to an unrealistic extent, I could barely differentiate Agnes and Zoe since they have to defining traits, and it feels driven by mediocre shock factor.
It was an interesting concept that with better care and the proper story teller could be expanded on beautifully. The only part that stuck with me was the quote “What have you done to deserve your eyes?” Which I wish was further expanded on.
It was an interesting concept that with better care and the proper story teller could be expanded on beautifully. The only part that stuck with me was the quote “What have you done to deserve your eyes?” Which I wish was further expanded on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Violence, Sexual content, Slavery, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexism, Self harm, and Child death
Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
harmon's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It was a very short and fast, but difficult read. I'm even surprised that I didn't throw up whilst I was reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Child death, Blood, Gore, Death, and Body horror
kinopuff's review against another edition
I knew it was going to be weird but it was more gross than I expected. Adding some content warnings
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Slavery
sgryldc's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Reading this at 11pm was a bad idea but while it's still fresh on my mind, might as well put a review.
Gonna give this a 3.75 ⭐ it is my first horror book this October and I think I would want to read more. Here's the thing with this novella, was it badly written? I dont think so. Was I disgusted? Definitely. Would I recommend this to a first time horror reader? No. Would I gift this to an enemy? Yes.
The author was simply vibing with this novella. Not much plot, just tapeworms and vibes. And I guess the goal was for the readers to elicit this type of reaction so its safe to say that theyre successful for that.
And come to think of it, if you really, truly loved someone, wouldn't you unearth the ground and devour some maggots? Does it matter? Does any of this really matter?
😉
Gonna give this a 3.75 ⭐ it is my first horror book this October and I think I would want to read more. Here's the thing with this novella, was it badly written? I dont think so. Was I disgusted? Definitely. Would I recommend this to a first time horror reader? No. Would I gift this to an enemy? Yes.
The author was simply vibing with this novella. Not much plot, just tapeworms and vibes. And I guess the goal was for the readers to elicit this type of reaction so its safe to say that theyre successful for that.
And come to think of it, if you really, truly loved someone, wouldn't you unearth the ground and devour some maggots? Does it matter? Does any of this really matter?
😉
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Gore, and Body horror
Minor: Vomit
kassandra_ase's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
After reading this I think I'd rather be single from now on, it traumatized me into having romantic relationship with someone
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Torture, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Gore
Moderate: Slavery, Terminal illness, and Torture
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Animal death, and Blood