Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

78 reviews

django018's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

4.5

Rumfitt’s incandescent intensity scorches the reader through to the bone once again. This one’s gonna be on brain… (haha) rotation for a while. 
It was immensely upsetting, and terrifying. Clear themes as usual from the author, which I appreciate. More subtly done than the last novel, as is explored in introduction. 
Much to think about, can’t wait to discuss. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Violence

iceperg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

sarahfa's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Frankie and Vanya‘s relationship was hot and felt realistic and genuine. By the end, the body horror went too gross for me, but that is me. I love when authors describe very detailed things (like parasite life cycles, pregnancy kink). It gives the writing so much life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Incest

calcified_boner's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Deliciously gross, practically parasitic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Incest, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, and Classism

carl_still_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

I’m calling it now … 
🪱Brainwyrms🪱
is one of, if not my favourite book of the year 🏆 

Talking about this book is so difficult as it’s defiantly not for everyone. It’s gross, vile and at times pornographic. It’s vulgar and shocking and downright uncomfortable. It’s a genuine extreme horror that many people will not enjoy. 

However as I read the book, it turned out to be more than I thought. Yes it’s an extreme horror, but it also tackles heavy topics of transgender hate which is probably the most horrific part of the book. 

We follow Frankie, who has got her life back together after a transphobic woman bombed her workplace and her meeting with a mystery woman named Vanya. As the relationship develops we start to peel back the curtain to find out who Vanya really is. 

I’m honestly so blown away by this book. To me it’s a genre defying book that is part extreme horror, part political horror, part biography almost. Rumfitt discusses the very relevant topic of trans hate in Britain and how truly ugly and horrific it really is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, and Vomit

gaeliloveweiss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

shawcrit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Dysphoria

Minor: Incest, Rape, Suicide, and Murder

saccharinewoe's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this was like if someone took that one blowfly girl story and used it as an allegory for the parasitic nature of transphobia and bigotry. interesting piece of transgressive fiction that made me feel genuinely sick and disturbed - i did have to take a break when the author suggested for it in the middle of the book lol. i literally have no idea what the ending is supposed to mean though, i feel like i hallucinated it. but like the writing was phenomenal and easy to follow until the last bit. i genuinely would not be able to recommend this to anyone unless i knew they were able to handle it in all its grossness and horrific imagery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Sexual assault, Murder, and Dysphoria

devsreadsnrambles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Fair warning to all who read this book - It is gross and terrifying and uncomfortable but man oh man is it good. I borrowed a copy from my library and I ate this up in 24 hours. I could not put it down. Kind of like watching a car wreck, its terrifying and uncomfy but we can't look away. 

I am an avid horror fan. This book made me squeamish and want to clean my brain. I loved the not so subtle topic of trans-gender folx experiences in the UK and the cost of the lack of empathy and humanity they are treated with. This story is not for the feint of heart. But I believe it is so damn important to read. If you think you're uncomfortable reading this? Imagine how a trans person feels just living their life. 

I would 100% read again. I have read Alison's previous book Tell Me I'm Worthless and while I didn't enjoy it AS much, I think Alison is an incredible writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Body shaming

hamletslover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism