We Can Never Leave This Place

read for summerween 2022

this is one of those books that you can think about forever and never have true answers. this was fantastical but the horrifying nature of this story was so enticing. and eric larocca always has the absolute best writing and something about the way he writes just digs it's way into my soul. 

This is my second novel by the author, my first being ‘Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke'

I defend that novel quite a bit. My reason being that even for as short as it is, it's still quite an intimate portrayal being two characters and for me that was a exciting feat.

However I do not think that there's enough... erm, talent for a lack of a better word here, to bring this premise to life with as many characters involved. It became hard to find enjoyment within this when the characters were so copy paste think experiments.

I did however love some of the visual scenes and the daughter. I probably would of preferred this more if the daughter and mother had more page time and a coherent timeline of exploring the trauma between the two.

My other gripe is the use of misogynistic needlessness. I think misogyny/sexism is a realistic part of life and no I'm not against it being in books. But on the other hand, there's a character in this book named Rake and during a scene he says paraphrasing here things akin to “find that cunt” and “get that bitch” - it just SO easily could of been “find her” with literally nothing changing. Same for the scene of the mother stating a daughter should know how to wash her cunt. You could of called her dirty or whatever but narrowing it down to an unwashed “cunt” is laughable. I think horror writers especially men authors, I've found just say things like this for the sake of it, this novel proving my point, and it genuinely adds nothing besides a weird reaffirmation of no reprieve from a man's mind even in fictional circumstances.

Nice premise, but definitely fell flat for me in many aspects. Will probably be my last book from the author.

Rating: 4.31 leaves out of 5Characters: 4.5/5 Cover: 5/5Story: 3.25/5Writing: 4.5/5Genre: Horror/ThrillerType: BookWorth?: YesHated Disliked It Was Okay Liked Really Liked Loved FavoritedI saw LaRocca's work on Tiktok from @baker.reads while I was making my list for spooky season and decided to place him on my list. The first thing I will say is it reads like an A24 film. It is the type of story that really shouldn't be taken for face value. While I was reading it a lot of the time I was like... WTF, but when it really sank in I was like... oh... oh wow. There were times that didn't make sense to me and I guess you could sum it up with you screaming at the screen because the character is dumb and making dumb mistakes. Either way it is a short read and well worth it. If you don't want to actually think about the book you just read I suggest you move on from here and find something... different. Now for the spoiler filled review.At first when I was reading it the bugs and reptiles really threw me off. I thought maybe she just is hallucinating. Then as I went through more of the book I realized they were a freaking gang of cannibals. I felt so bad for Mara. Her mother is trash... complete trash. Hated her every second in the book and I felt bad the newborn boy... Also... when Mara finds that picture of her mother and a picture of her dad and she hadn't realized it was him... and that her mom was also her grandmother...