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A review by lilybear3
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was on everyone's tiktok so I wanted to experience it for myself. This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Do I have critiques? Of course, so let's get into it. I liked this edition because it had 2 other stories. I don't know if the original book has this, but the author explains the inspiration for each short story and I really appreciated that.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: WTF did I read? I get why people are disgusted, horrified, etc, but isn't that the point? There's just about every CW/TW possible. The ending was confusing in the sense that why on earth did it end like that. My critique is in the characterization. The characters didn't seem realistic in the way they talked to each other in the emails. The Instant Message chats were more believable. This story had more potential to be suspenseful and horrifying, but the pacing was too fast. Their relationship escalated too quickly and it's hard to believe that Agnes would dive so deep into a relationship within, what, like 2 weeks? I looked up the meaning of the ending because I was curious if I missed something, I like that there is discussion surrounding it. 3/5
The Enchantment: I liked this better than the first story. It was truly suspenseful, but the ending was confusing. I am interested in things with religious undertones and I was trying so hard to put the pieces together. It wasn't as climatic as it could've been but I was scared of what would come next. 3/5
You'll Find It's Like That All Over: This story reminded me of The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. I don't know if it's as good as those since it's been a while, but it's similar. I could tell where this story was going since it was familiar, and I don't think that's a bad thing. 3.5/5
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke: WTF did I read? I get why people are disgusted, horrified, etc, but isn't that the point? There's just about every CW/TW possible. The ending was confusing in the sense that why on earth did it end like that. My critique is in the characterization. The characters didn't seem realistic in the way they talked to each other in the emails. The Instant Message chats were more believable. This story had more potential to be suspenseful and horrifying, but the pacing was too fast. Their relationship escalated too quickly and it's hard to believe that Agnes would dive so deep into a relationship within, what, like 2 weeks? I looked up the meaning of the ending because I was curious if I missed something, I like that there is discussion surrounding it. 3/5
The Enchantment: I liked this better than the first story. It was truly suspenseful, but the ending was confusing. I am interested in things with religious undertones and I was trying so hard to put the pieces together. It wasn't as climatic as it could've been but I was scared of what would come next. 3/5
You'll Find It's Like That All Over: This story reminded me of The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell and The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. I don't know if it's as good as those since it's been a while, but it's similar. I could tell where this story was going since it was familiar, and I don't think that's a bad thing. 3.5/5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Death, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Torture
Moderate: Confinement