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Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
184 reviews
rosaelia'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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, and Murder
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
joeywins'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
2.25
This felt like it needed another draft or some longer time to brew. The concept is very appealing to me- unconventional relationship that turns to horror done with early internet culture.
Nothing is built up though, I have no idea who these women are- if you told me it was the same woman talking to herself i would believe it because there is no character! I cannot describe them beyond their roles in the story.
It seems everything that happens serves to just give us some graphic imagery. Yes its done well, but that doesn't make a story. I just keep asking myself why do this if you're not going to commit? Don't give me unrelated stories that kind of thematically connect, give me what you said you would provide. Aughhhh!!!
I read it in less than a day, so I'm not too frustrated, but I wish this was better than it was. Thought this was going to be a 5 star, ended with me shrugging my shoulders.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Self harm and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
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
lordofdisorder'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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
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
hayn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy
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
mallory_minerva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I know this book is disliked, and I find the criticisms understandable. I do not dispute the realism issues; people don't really email like that. The texting to me seemed fine on the local level however. The progression of the relationship, as well as the relationship with the Tapeworm, seemed most unrealistic, but in some ways the psychological nuance of it was very interesting. I have mixed feelings on that front. I also am unsure about the claim of the author fetishizing lesbians. I didn't pick up on it much myself but I can see why others do.
I honestly found it mostly fun. I read it in one sitting which is rare for me. The characters are good and distinct, and the scenes conveyed through texts and emails are really vivid. I also liked Agnes's tendency to tell anecdotes; a lot of the literary merit is in those moments and I actually do buy that someone would just infodump anecdotes to make a point. I think the online take on an epistolary novel was well done all things considered; this is an epistolary novel and it will read like letters, not emails, and that's fine.
The horror is... The body horror is better than the psychological horror. I did not enjoy the BDSM aspects, and the animal cruelty really felt out of place for both characters and plot-necessitated. The Findom was underexplored but maybe that's a good thing. Zoe places enough emphasis on consent and caution that I didn't really perceive much manipulation. I didn't pick up on it until she self-discloses out of guilt and concern. There's moments where I feel things are getting worse and Agnes is blundering into a bad situation though, which is good psychological horror. The body horror is well-done.
I wanted to read trash after Foucault broke me, and I certainly got it. I get the low average but this book came to me at the right time I guess.
PS: this is the most content warnings I've ever added for a review. I guess I don't do horror much.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, and Lesbophobia