Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca

109 reviews

zoeyoey's review

dark fast-paced

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

1.5

This book was surely gross and made me uncomfortable, which I can appreciate, but I don’t think I was the target audience for this. I don’t have a religion or follow any faith and so I couldn’t really relate to any aspects of that. I suppose there were parts of the book I could relate to on a very surface level, but that’s all I’ve got.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

sproinkly's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

the first story was incredible. i enjoyed it thoroughly and was so sucked in. that story alone would get 4.5 stars from me, a deduction of .5 stars because i just wanted more of it. the second story was also great, except for the author's failure to understand that

a fetus does not start kicking within a few weeks of pregnancy.

disregarding that detail, i give it a 4/5 stars. the last story was just not very intruiging to me. i ended up skimming through a large portion of it because the scene wasnt written well. it didnt surprise me or scare me, it was predictable and the "plot twist" got rid of all of the possible horror. 2 stars for the last story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

finnsnowbevi's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Xenophobia, and Lesbophobia

jet_nebula's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Homophobia

samsquest's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Body horror

sina4books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Torture, Excrement, and Pregnancy

mrpetej's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

lauriebird's review

dark tense 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

2.25

I really had high hopes for a book. First of all, the cover is gorgeous! Congratulations to the artist because that cover really drew me in and kept me going.

I love to read queer literature even if the characters are morally grey or ambiguous. However, I feel there is something… “icky” about the way the author wrote about the woman that I feel falls into the evil lesbian trope. I found that their motivations within the story were not often clear. I feel like it it was written to shock but not provoke the reader to look into the characters. Perhaps he wrote the shock value to distract from what little personality he gave both women? I think this story is so underwhelming for what could have been a truly remarkable premise. Neither woman has a unique voice and honestly, they sound like they’re writing in an into to philosophy course. S.Penkevich said it right when they mentioned that this could’ve been a story that examined class and power dynamics and could’ve given a deeper look into Agnes’ vulnerabilities. 

I think it’s also important to note in this story that both women are equally manipulative and manipulated. Agnes and Zoe both use love bombing and silence as punishment. However, Agnes repeatedly reaches out to Zoe (in a way that feels very “lesbians have mommy issues” but I digress) and begs for love while Zoe’s affection is contingent on Agnes completing her tasks. Once Agnes does and becomes obsessed with the relationship between the two of them, Zoe becomes disinterested which leaves Agnes presumably devastated. However, to get to this conclusion, the story meanders through nothingness. I set this book down a few times; not because I was disturbed but because I was incredibly bored.

As I stated, this could’ve been a great book! This book has so much potential. It is disturbing to a point but the prose was just too distracting for me. I feel like if the author gave himself more time to truly develop a voice and personality for both women and delve further into the manipulation and desires for both women, this could’ve been an amazing novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Violence and Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Gaslighting, and Classism

automatic_rae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Dark & twisted. Creative & thought-provoking. Gripping & gruesome.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

rmjennsch's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual content