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arlenren's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
rivergardner's review against another edition
- 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
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
calcified_boner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Incest, Violence, Torture, Hate crime, and Transphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Child death, Fatphobia, Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism, Classism, and Abandonment
fluoresensitive's review against another edition
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Rape
devsreadsnrambles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I am an avid horror fan. This book made me squeamish and want to clean my brain. I loved the not so subtle topic of trans-gender folx experiences in the UK and the cost of the lack of empathy and humanity they are treated with. This story is not for the feint of heart. But I believe it is so damn important to read. If you think you're uncomfortable reading this? Imagine how a trans person feels just living their life.
I would 100% read again. I have read Alison's previous book Tell Me I'm Worthless and while I didn't enjoy it AS much, I think Alison is an incredible writer.
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Body shaming
readingwithgoose's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Murder, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Blood, Gore, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Vomit
Moderate: Incest, Self harm, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Dysphoria
stargazersasha's review against another edition
5.0
brainwyrms is a wholesome meet-cute where — just kidding. it was pretty cute though. tore thru this in less than 24 hours. i loved tell me i'm worthless but rumfitt really hits her stride with this one. it's honestly not as gross as i was led to believe, but there is a lot of fatphobia i wish i was warned about. other than yeah, fucking brutal as always, an excellent social horror piece about what it's like to be a trans woman right now. her writing is so sharp and clever, she always strikes the perfect chord and it hurts. her criticism of fascism and especially transmisogyny is incisive as ever. alison rumfitt you will always be famous
Moderate: Transphobia and Fatphobia
hamletslover's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Drug use, Deadnaming, Alcohol, Violence, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Body horror, Blood, Abandonment, Vomit, Torture, Suicide, Physical abuse, Grief, Excrement, Child abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Outing, Infertility, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Classism, and Child death
yassassin'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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?
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.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Incest, Kidnapping, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Violence, Physical abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, Medical content, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Addiction, Blood, and Pregnancy