Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

57 reviews

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

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

3.5

I have no idea what I just read

This was so so weird, but I think I enjoyed it? There were parts that made me feel so icky, the language and descriptions are grotesquely detailed and don’t shy away from anything.

This book certainly isn’t for the faint hearted or easily offended, there’s a lot of dark and disturbing stuff that probably isn’t for your casual horror reader. I do think there should have been a content warning on the back of the book because this was being sold in Waterstones where anyone could pick it up not realising how graphic and sexual it is until they begin reading. 

I can’t say I was a huge fan of the writing style, the ‘slam poetry’ kind of sections were a little hard to follow at times. I get the effect they were going for, but it was just a little difficult to keep up with. 

I do think the author was trying a little too hard to make this book disgusting, and it felt at times that the actual message of the story was being strayed away from in favour of grotesque descriptions. I get what the worms and the whole community around that was trying to represent, but i don’t know, it felt a little bit like it was missing the mark at times. 

I don’t really know what to take away from this book other than that i’m now really fucking grossed out by worms

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cburns13's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, 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

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

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

My second read by Alison Rumfitt and I was so excited to be brought back into her world and unique writing voice. I was not disappointed in that regard! I do think this would be a 5 star for me on my second read, as the themes were a bit harder to follow than in Tell Me I'm Worthless. Im for sure going to give this a second read in the future to focus more on what it all means, what the wryms represent, and so on. That's really a huge part of what I have loved about Alison's work thus far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Outing, 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

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

gia0203's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

Rumfitt’s narrative voice is very clear and direct in this book - the purpose of the novel felt very clear compared to her last one. I very much enjoyed it, in a different way from Tell Me I’m Worthless.

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Ableism, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Infertility, Rape, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Terrorism/Bombing