Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

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

61 reviews

chainsawheartbooks's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

1/ Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

What the absolute fuck? I feel sick to my stomach and so wildly concerned for Agnes. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, they did! 

Well played Mr LaRocca, well damn played, and that writing was so visceral. I have immense fear for whatever dark and twisted alley the other two stories are going to drag me down.

2/ The Enchantment

I’m honestly more confused about this story, more specifically its ending, than I am anything else.

I understand it’s dealing with grief and coping with a horrific, surprising event, but I’m just sat wondering “what?”

I’m not quite sure what some of the events had to do with the plot, neither character really seemed to be dealing with anything in a normal way, and what was that weird bug creature at the end, what relevance did that have? 

All in all, I wasn’t a fan of this one, it fell flat for me sadly.

3/ You’ll Find It’s Like That All Over

It felt more like a 50 page essay on how people can be willing to do anything not to offend someone else, and the feeling of embarrassment they get when it doesn’t go right. 

I did gasp when they went into the attic, but overall it didn’t really inthrall me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

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

hocuscrocus's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

I really loved the title story, but the other two didn't do much for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Miscarriage, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, and Pregnancy

maggieoc_x's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Gore and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Vomit, and Pregnancy

derivative's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

Things Have Gotten Worse was definitely the star here, I borrowed the collection without realizing it wasn't just the one story. I see so much potential and would love to read a longer story from this author

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicide, and Pregnancy

quoth_thepaperraven's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

3.75

thing have gotten worse is an excellent story. the other two were okay. enjoyable, but nothing compared to the titular narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

jasper_wildlife's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Vomit, and Lesbophobia

steffivandewouw's review

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Outing

therealmsroth's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Quick, highly intriguing read. Took a partial point off because of all the unanswered questions. I wanted more... In a good way? Very interesting characters. I wish I could get more of their stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

sleepyshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Ew.

A collection of short stories that have been ruining my brain and rotting my bones.

Eric LaRocca writes religious existentialism so well. Christ-figures adorn each story in this collection. Crucifying the believer and challenging nonbelievers alike, LaRocca can tie a noose and execute the reader without them seeing it coming. Wild.

I still can’t figure out how his relationship with his mom must be if they keep dedicating these stories to her and her faith. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail