Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

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

19 reviews

finnsnowbevi's review against another edition

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

lauriebird's review against another edition

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

questionablereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I didn't realize this was a collection of three short horror stories but I've broken down my review based on stories, and love the Afterward where the author explains the connection with all three. Overall, I'm glad I finally read this.  

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke - 5 stars
I love the power imbalance at play. It was so sinister and chilling and made me horrified with how warped people behave to hold onto what they deem to be love. 

The Enchantment - 5 stars
This was a bit slow when getting into but after chapter 6 I was hooked.  It is a story surrounding grief and loss, and a struggle/need to hold onto marriage and faith. The ending left my jaw on the floor. 

You'll Find It's Like That All Over - 3 stars
My least favorite story in the collection but enjoyed the language around the need for people pleasing, and the dangers that often leads to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage and Gaslighting

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

tropicalpanda's review against another edition

Too gory and disturbing, I barely made it through the salamander murder and I had to stop when she began describing crucifying a baby in excruciating detail

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

steffivandewouw's review against another edition

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

macyplier's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

This was my first time ever reading a short story collection and I had super low expectations because everybody I’ve seen talk about it hateddd the last two stories but I liked all of them. They didn’t move me or anything but I enjoyed reading them all the same. Not an all time favorite but looking forward to re-reading eventually. I don’t think any of the stories are like super horrific or disturbing and crazy, so if that's what you’re looking for maybe pass but they were all fun quick reads to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jesscoast's review against another edition

dark tense 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? Yes

4.0

I ripped through these three short horror stories, all with their own strange and unsettling premises. I was drawn in by the first, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, because of the chat room format and internet friendship gone wrong plot. The plunge into darkness was abrupt, disturbing, and shocking. I found myself getting queasy and squeamish, for a story set entirely online, the fictional real world consequences and true crime set up were intensely gory. The build up was addictive though and I couldn’t help but brace myself for the worst, dreadful of how far things could go. For a former internet teen such as myself, this is maybe the ultimate horror because it blends internet anonymity with the late night isolated, curious, frenzied message boards and chats with no supervision, guidebook, or sanity or safety checks. 

The other stories were dark and sad though I won’t say they’ll be nearly as memorable to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

madelinequinne's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Interesting ideas in the book, but from how much i’ve seen it hyped up online, it disappointed me slightly. It wasn’t as disturbing as I expected, but I did enjoy the stories, especially Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke. Each story gave me Black Mirror vibes, and i’d love to see them adapted for screen one day!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting