Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

58 reviews

janbabs's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is not a book for everyone. Literally all the trigger warnings. It was messed up, disturbing and disgusting. It was like picking a scab. I was compelled to continue reading, even though it was uncomfortable.The major themes of transphobia and political terrorism/fascism felt worryingly relevant to society today, and if anything were amplified by the gruesome horror setting. The writing was brilliant and I thought the shifts between first and third person narratives worked well. This was not an easy read, but I think it's gonna stay on my mind for a long time to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Incest, Sexual content, Transphobia, Excrement, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Deadnaming, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

catatlanta's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

grey_jayne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I immediately poured Brainwyrms into my head after reading Rumfitt's debut Tell Me I'm Worthless. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors with both books her perversely poetic filth ragebombs lobbed at society. I absolutely loved that she introduced the book as if she was writing from the 2030s and reporting back, the satire has no bounds this time around and it's pretty great.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria

minxtte's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

I had to physically force myself to stop reading this for my own welfare. Obsessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Islamophobia and Fire/Fire injury

plumsdeify's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Murder, and Toxic friendship

seawarrior's review against another edition

4.0

Brainwyrms is as dark, disgusting, and wormy as promised. Rumfitt excels at ironic wit and at writing thorny characters who encounter brutal pulses of horror within their otherwise mundane lives.

The leads in Brainwyrms treat themselves and others with an aggressive disregard that unfurls into gruesome violence of cosmic proportions. I recognized their ideas and actions in some of the worst and most unwell people I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Rumfitt is obviously someone who has grown up on the Internet, and was able to depict its underbellies and relentless noise of voices with deftness. However, I did not understand how some of the plots and themes of the book related to one another. This may be because I read the book so quickly, or it may be because I had no familiarity with Edgar Allen Poe's "The Conqueror Worm", which should be a prerequisite for this novel. I would recommend this book to other readers willing to sit with their disgust and read a story that makes no attempt to alleviate their fear of the future. The future for transgender people may be a horrifying one, and Rumfitt knows it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Dysphoria

joy_ong's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ribbenkast's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Had to sit with this book for quite while before settling on the 5⭐ rating. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

Unapologetically disgusting and unflinching in its commentary against the spread of transphobia, this novel is a riveting example of how pain and fear can disrupt the minds and growth of those unfortunate to be infected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Stalking

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

challenging dark

• 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

Hoo boy this sure was a book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Excrement, and Death of parent