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catatlanta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Dysphoria, Body horror, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Rape, Classism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Gore, Outing, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
grey_jayne's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I still don't know if her work is accessible to cis people but honestly I don't fucking care. We needed her voice from out of the darkness and I will follow her wherever she goes next. Trans books for trans people!
This is also officially the book with the most trigger warnings that I've logged so far. The label "Extreme horror" should be treated with respect and care. Enter at your own risk.
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Incest, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Self harm
fnnbnjmnks's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Excrement, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Body horror, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt
ribbenkast's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This book is loud, its metaphores anything but subtle. It's vile, and it absolutely demands your attention. often times horror writers are in a competition to write the grossest thing out there just for the sake of it. This book is gross and nauseating but uses that to make it's point and it makes it point well. I couldn't put it down. It's not for everyone, but it definitely was the book for me.
Despite the book's subject and message, Allison Rumfitt shows off some amazing writing skills. They way she utelizes different perspectives, breaks the 4th wall, uses punctuation, all of it should be studied by any aspiring writer no matter which genre.
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Infertility, Mass/school shootings, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Dysphoria
vixenreader's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Death, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Rape, Deadnaming, Infertility, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Transphobia, Blood, Cursing, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Outing, Suicide, Child death, Classism, Incest, Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
Minor: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Animal death, Stalking, and Antisemitism
Be aware that this is frank depictions of parasitic infestations with human bodies, urine, water sports, scat-play, anal sex, cyberbullying, online harassment, bombing, terrorism, eating and inserting excrement, fisting, running away from home, homicide, and extreme TERF behaviour.mxfahrenheit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Incest, Transphobia, and Vomit
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Excrement, Drug abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
gia0203's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The same themes pervade both books: being transgender in Britain, and how it links sexuality and trauma. Rumfitt writes about how it feels like we’re going backwards. She touches again and again on how extremist ideas spread. Interestingly in this novel, the internet is also a major theme, for example the fetish community. She pulls at the tension between fetish communities as a bit of fun, a sanctuary and as a coping mechanism.
This book is at times very satirical. I really enjoyed that. It isn’t scared to expose the underbelly of hypocrisy in modern politics. There’s a passage in this book that says everything is about sex, and people just like to pretend that it isn’t. This book is daring when Britain at the moment is leaning towards conservatism and tradition.
In this book, the worms are the metaphor for extremism, similar to the haunted house in Tell Me I’m Worthless. But Rumfitt’s books can’t really be defined as just one thing. She juggles many metaphorical plates at once. I criticised Tell Me I’m Worthless for it’s lack of clarity, and I don’t hold the same criticism for this book. In many ways it’s a stronger novel. Rumfitt is growing really well as an author.
Subjectively however, I think the difference between them is that Tell Me I’m Worthless was more emotional, more zoomed in on the two people at the heart of it, whereas Brainwyrms takes a broader perspective. I prefer Tell Me I’m Worthless on a personal level, but Brainwyrms is the better book.
Graphic: Hate crime, Body horror, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Excrement, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Outing, Fatphobia, Animal death, Addiction, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Ableism, Antisemitism, Infertility, and Rape
Terrorism/Bombingahliahreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Excrement, Transphobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Body horror, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Eating disorder, Murder, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
caidyn's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Transphobia, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Fatphobia, Incest, Dysphoria, and Deadnaming
Minor: Rape
dylan_darko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Vomit, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Body horror, Abandonment, Homophobia, Sexual content, Hate crime, Gore, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Death, and Body shaming