Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

78 reviews

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

challenging dark

5.0

I have no words (or should I say worms…)

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A 'shocking, grotesque, and downright filthy body horror novel' from Alison Rumfitt, okay just imprint on my soul before this book is even out then fuck

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

yassassin's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Even though the book contains a trigger warning, please pay attention to the warnings included in my review and on this site before reading. If there are any topics you need or want to avoid, chances are this book covers them.
Now onto the review. If you've read Rumfitt's book Tell Me I'm Worthless, you'll probably soon realize that Brainwyrms uses a different metaphor for the same issues: rising transphobia in the UK and the far-right radicalization pipeline. This isn't either praise or critique, in my opinon both metaphors work well to take you on a rollecoaster of feeling disgusted and terrified by the supernatural horrors, only to realize the segments accurately depicting reality are just as horrific. After all, what is a dangerous idea you find online other than a vicious worm trying to slither its way into your brain and multiply?

If the segments detailing worms oozing out of a TERF's eyes caused me to stop reading for a second to catch my breath, the passages about the same woman purposely misgendering and attacking her trans child made me want to scream in despair.

You're likely to either finish this book with a deep feeling of depression at the state of trans rights, or set it aside with the need to fight harder than ever to make sure it never goes as far as what the book describes.
Then there is the other component of the novel: a very deep, detailed dive into extreme kink, mixed with a good portion of body horror and absolute psychological f*ckery. Even if I didn't let it get to me too much, I won't pretend like I didn't struggle to make it through certain chapters. I'm not completely convinced all of it was necessary, even in a horror novel.

If the author herself feels the need to literally address the reader in the middle of the book just to warn them of the extremity of the following chapters, I can't help but feel at least some of it is somewhat gimmicky. I found myself thinking: the social transphobic horror was horrifying and anxiety-inducing enough, are you sure the point will be reinforced by including incest, detailed descriptions of masturbation with animal feces or random unrelated stories about suicides and murdered influencers?

I was about to rate Brainwyrms 4 stars, because I did enjoy reading it (in some twisted way) and I appreciate someone taking the extreme route to speaking out on the situation in the UK and elsewhere. Then while writing this review, I realized the two main aspects of the story didn't blend well in the finale, which felt simultaneously too grand, and not grand enough. Or better still, not satisfying enough. Not terrible enough to make a very ugly point, not cathartic enough to make it all feel worth it. Too open, but too concrete at the same time. One day, I will have to find the strength to do a reread, maybe. Hopefully, by then the world won't be taken over by Brainwyrms. I hope Alison Rumfitt gets to write many more deranged books that will make me question her sanity, and mine for reading all of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

a_beautiful_soup's review against another edition

challenging dark funny sad tense

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence

Minor: Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape

djbobthegirl's review against another edition

fast-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Trafficking, Stalking, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Alcohol

fuathling's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

Perhaps I'm still processing this book but in all honestly I can't give it more than a lukewarm review.

If you're looking for something to cringe over, to grimace at while reading due to the sheer abundance of grotesque, stomach-churning filth mounted on the pages: it's a book worthy of conversation. 

After reading this I found myself wishing I knew someone else who had just so that we could both stare at each other and collectively chant "what the fuck". 

Alison seems to depict transphobia as a disease-- which isn't altogether a poor depiction; but fails to tie her story together in a way that really feels concrete.

I finished this story envisioning a loosely knotted ball of dripping gore with no real core plot tying it all together. It seems to unravel at the end in a sort of "yes, its just more gross stuff" way that doesn't feel at all satisfying and instead left me going "huh???"

I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't impressed, either.

The book is chalk full of fucked up scenes, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone triggered by transphobic, dysphoric, or sexual scenarios. There's a lot to be flagged about this book, but if you can handle it-- I suggest reading it with a friend: that way you at least have someone as equally confused as you are by the end of it all.

I get the overlying message, but I failed to find the real satisfaction of a book well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

myqueerbookshelf's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

hydecircus's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

blowfly girls impact. but fr soooo fucking good. absolutely obsessed with the unique style of this novel the curious cat chapter especially is such a smart way of showing character...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death

ee_comins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Abandonment

trashgobby's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Infertility, Violence, Excrement, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism