Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke Book Review

by Catalina Bonati

3.25/5 stars

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke (2021) by Eric LaRocca is a short 100 page novelette about Agnes, a young woman who posts about her intention to sell her great-grandmother’s antique apple peeler on a queer online forum. There, she meets Zoe, a wealthy woman who initially intends to buy the apple peeler from her, but instead sends her a Master/Slave sadomasochistic contract. From there, their relationship takes darker and darker turns and twists, ending in a grim theoretical childbirth for the two of them.

This novelette takes epistolary form told through email and IM. The apple peeler story told through Agnes’ initial post is dark and intriguing, which sets the tone for the rest of the book. Agnes’ correspondence with Zoe quickly turns into an obsession on Agnes’ part, and Zoe takes this opportunity to turn their newly blossomed friendship into an unbalanced power dynamic wrought with humiliation. For a while, the narration describes smut and the development of a very unhealthy and toxic online form of lesbian BDSM which involves animal cruelty and food control. The story chronicles Agnes’ loss of self through this unhealthy relationship as she blindly follows what Zoe proposes to her even though it might stand against her principles because she believes that Zoe will protect her and find a way to give Agnes what she desires most: motherhood. As Agnes follows instructions (even through Zoe’s admission that she gives instructions out of selfishness and not out of interest in Agnes’ wellbeing) their relationship passes through stages of depravity and hatefulness, which ends up compromising Agnes’ mental wellbeing and leading her further into insanity. Agnes takes her potential for motherhood increasingly seriously in ways that impact her health and in such a way makes Zoe nervous and eager to part ways.

The story ends in a shocking series of events that end up involving the police (the reader is informed of this in the first page of the book). The main focus of the story is in the Agnes’ loss of identity through her dedication to something that she believes is greater than her, which is Zoe and her potential motherhood. Her loss of a job, of food, of sleeping comfortably, and in the way she views her own great-grandmother’s apple peeler from an antique rich with history to a material that is representative only of her master (or Sponsor, in this case) lead her to a downwards spiral from which there is no return. This novelette is grim, dark, and somewhat uncomfortable to read. It is told succinctly and there is strong character development in the form of regression. Abuse in BDSM relationships is a common theme in media which is further explored here; this is not a friendly view towards this sexual practice. Despite this, this is a well-written book that is hard to put down.