Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

51 reviews

chloeknight's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror and Murder

Minor: Transphobia and Blood

zoeygrey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Didn't hit quite as hard as Tell Me I'm Worthless, but still an exceptional body horror

The fox scene (iykyk) is genuinely one of the most disgusting things I've ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body horror, Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexual content, and Rape

Moderate: Blood, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Bullying, Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Incest

saturn_rage's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

4.0

Fucking hell this stressed me out. I originally started it months ago, read about the first third, and took a prolonged indefinite break due to the anxiety it brewed in me. Anyhow, on returning I finished it in two days, so take that for what you will. 

The stream-of-consciousness that is much of this book works well for the characters and the subject matter, and also gives you a sense of the existential anxiety lacing the entire narrative, something that seeps into you the reader as well (at least for me). Anyhow, I did like this, though it comes with a whole load of content warnings and my stomach is pretty strong. It taps into some parts of me that I should explore more, and is very topical given the current climate I am struggling to exist in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Drug abuse, Excrement, Blood, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Transphobia, Vomit, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Kidnapping, Body shaming, and Child abuse

arlenren's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Visceral, provocative, revolting. Don't make the mistake I did and start reading this on the train; you do NOT want anyone looking over your shoulder. Once I'd found a more suitable place to read it, I couldn't put it down. This book pulls no punches as it lays out the threat that trans people face in the UK today, unflinching in a portrayal that remains truthful even through a lens of conspiratorial fantasy. Like all the best horror novels, it has moments of comedy that provide respite from the crushing tension. I went into this book thinking it was going to make me feel sick yet surprisingly it didn't, in spite of how personal some of its triggers are for me. I guess there's something wrong with me?? Luckily, there's nothing wrong with this book. If you have a strong stomach and an open mind, this is a faultless read. Easiest five stars I've given in a long time. (Please do check the trigger warnings though).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gore, Abortion, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, and Drug use

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

apollos_books's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

ive seen & read a lotttt of nasty stuff in horror, but this is literally the grossest book ive ever read period. it literally made me physically ill. and i dont think it was worth going through all that…for starters, i was not a fan of the main protagnoist, Frankie - i feel like ive “met” this exact character in several other trans novels. Vanya was the more interesting of the pair but their arc went literally nowhere. the “message/themes” revolve primarily around rage baity internet discourse which im beyond over personally. the jk rowling parody bits were funny though.

on the plus side, at least it was short and fairly fast-paced. it was also written well enough to keep me going til the end obvs. and im also just generally always going to have a bias for trans horror so

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Death, Vomit, Self harm, Deadnaming, Blood, Rape, Incest, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Gore, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, and Hate crime

vincentvanhough's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

loved the book until the last chapter

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Incest, Rape, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Deadnaming, and Self harm

ddryden825's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Hate crime, Child death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Drug use, Excrement, Addiction, Body shaming, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Body horror

rivergardner's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, Eating disorder, Incest, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Homophobia, Hate crime, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Mental illness, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Death, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Deadnaming, Animal death, and Drug use

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