Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

6 reviews

emlen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

rebekahmccubbins's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I went into this book excited - I picked it up after seeing multiple recommendations in lists of queer horror novels. And I really wanted to like it.  I'm genuinely confused as to how this book was published. 

The author clearly enjoys flowery prose, which is fine when done well. But this was painful to read. Every third sentence was a simile or over-description, making it hard to keep track of what's actually happening in the story. The plot felt half-baked, and the details were confusing. I found myself constantly asking, 'why?'. The characters' motivations didn't feel reasonable.

And the extremely graphic violence against Malik and Brett felt uncalled for. Frankly, that subplot never tied in to a degree that felt justified. So I was left feeling that the author just... WANTED to torture and decimate a gay couple (confusing, because by all accounts, he is gay). 

I can't in good faith recommend this story to anyone. If you do choose to read, good luck. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ecn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

So good but not much of a build up and the quickest resolution/wrap up, which left me wanting more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

erebus53's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

2.5

I picked up this one at random because the title seemed interesting.
The story is weird, mysterious, supernatural, and bleak. It felt like there were actually 2 stories stitched together.

People are going missing, and one of the police officers investigating is a Muslim man who is getting flack from his husband for pulling long hours. They are a sweet couple, but continually on guard due to micro-agressions from their neighbours.. which escalate to macro-agressions and ultimately extreme violence, as someone in the neighborhood is trying to pressure the men into leaving.

The other protagonist is a depressed young man who is grieving the loss of his wife and unborn child in a motor accident that permanently damaged his own leg. He has this niggling voice that continually disparages him. It belongs to an actual demon (is it real?) with whom he has an oddly codependent toxic relationship. (Nowhere near as friendly as Calcifer in Howl's Moving Castle). One day he meets a fancy old man with a swanky mansion who offers wishes.. this gives me real "Needful Things" vibes. The guy is about as suspect as you can get even before he introduces himself as Heart Crowley.

Mumble mumble, magic, cult, demon / God, zealots, creepy, blood and rituals etc. (step 4: profit!... or prophet?)
Meanwhile sadistic homophobic violence, rape, multilation, and all that bad stuff

but that's ok because we have God locked in our cellar and he can make it all miraculously better.
Kinda liked the whole Clockwork Orange feel of stumbling into the mansion in the middle of the night though. ("HOME")

I liked that most of the characters are gay or pan. Interesting to hear the widow character voicing experience of biphobia. I realize it's supposed to be gritty and horrific but the whole rape angle just felt awful rather than creepy. I kind of feel like the whole story might have had more going for it if it was either a supernatural horror with a paranoid anxiety sufferer OR the horrible side of be what can happen to a sweet gay couple just trying to live their best life, but trying to tangle the two together is just not quite doing either justice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

aparker89's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A fast-paced supernatural mystery that will leave you begging for mercy. Not only will you feel sorrow, you can feel the slash of the knife. While you witness some truly horrific events in this story, most are not so far fetched as to be unbelievable. You feel for every person you meet and the evil lurking is both ethereal and too real! With any luck, you might finish unscathed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Blood, Excrement, Islamophobia, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Minor: Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

micalyia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 It was uncomfy and dark and twisty. This book can be very triggering to check trigger and content warning.

It wasn’t scary but it was horrifying in the fact that it was just horrible how the characters keep getting knocked down by different situations 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail