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Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

by Eric LaRocca

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3212180,595 (3.05)None
Fiction. Horror. Literature. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML:

Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death.

A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000's â?? a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires.

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)
Such a dark, disturbing, quick read. ( )
  mancinibo | Nov 30, 2023 |
I honestly don’t know what to think of this. It was so visceral and gross, but endearing and strange.

The relationship between the characters was the part I had the most trouble with, being submerged in 2020s where online relationships can mean certain death…the trust they gave very quickly was odd for me, so I had to suspend my disbelief about that. ( )
  Danielle.Desrochers | Oct 10, 2023 |
i dont even know what to say honestly ( )
  chardenlover | Jun 14, 2023 |
What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

Eric LaRocca has a way with words that I find disturbing, enthralling, and endlessly enjoyable to read. He's easily an auto-buy author for me, and he's just getting started!

With this story Eric turns his talents to the epistolary form; a medium that is underutilized, likely because it's so hard to get right. I mean how well can one create complex characters, inspire awe and dread in the reader, and convey a full range of emotions only through written correspondences (in this case emails and chat messages)? In this case, the answer is VERY well. Very well indeed.

The basic premise is that one character is wanting to sell an antique apple peeler, and the other character is an interested buyer. What follows is a tale of loneliness, codependency, and sadism that starts out innocently enough and turns into something truly horrific by the end. Eric takes his time with the pacing, allowing us to really get to know these characters and be pulled into their web of communication. And the times he shows restraint from graphic details only serve to make the times he doesn't that much more disgusting and alarming. Seriously, there is one scene in particular where I almost put the book down.

I loved this story, loved the way it was written, loved these sad characters, and loved the disturbing twists along the way. Highly recommend! ( )
  Reading_Vicariously | May 22, 2023 |
I really have no idea what to rate this. Not a 1 or a 5. Probably not a 2 (though I am sure many people would rate it low because of creep and disgust factors). So, 3 it shall be.

If you are wondering what to expect out of this book, I'll just summarize one, ah, representative event. Your sub comes to you stating she wants you (plural) to have a baby. You don't want that sort of commitment so you counter with: you want to feel a life inside you, to feed it, grow it, how about a tapeworm? Just eat a spoiled steak and that should do that the trick. Your sub eagerly accepts.

As almost every other reviewer has mentioned, I was very "WTF did I just read/listen to?" I had a brief conversation with my dog, who was lying on the floor blocking the exit from the kitchen (as is her wont) about this. It wasn't much of a conversation because she is very quiet and almost never vocalizes and I was mostly saying things like "What the hell did I just listen to?" and "That was fucked up!"

It was pretty good epistolary writing. If you go audio on this, be prepared to be annoyed by the pedantic reading of full email addresses before each letter. Surely this could have been shortened after the first couple? Also, the pronunciation of 'Re:' as "ray." Hello? It's short for 'reply,' "Ree." Who the hell says "ray-ply"? ( )
  qaphsiel | Feb 20, 2023 |
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Fiction. Horror. Literature. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML:

Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death.

A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000's â?? a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires.

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

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