Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

109 reviews

saccharinewoe's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this was like if someone took that one blowfly girl story and used it as an allegory for the parasitic nature of transphobia and bigotry. interesting piece of transgressive fiction that made me feel genuinely sick and disturbed - i did have to take a break when the author suggested for it in the middle of the book lol. i literally have no idea what the ending is supposed to mean though, i feel like i hallucinated it. but like the writing was phenomenal and easy to follow until the last bit. i genuinely would not be able to recommend this to anyone unless i knew they were able to handle it in all its grossness and horrific imagery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Incest, Violence, Body horror, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Murder, Ableism, Dysphoria, and Sexual assault

devsreadsnrambles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• 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

Fair warning to all who read this book - It is gross and terrifying and uncomfortable but man oh man is it good. I borrowed a copy from my library and I ate this up in 24 hours. I could not put it down. Kind of like watching a car wreck, its terrifying and uncomfy but we can't look away. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Some parts of this were reallly strong, and if you're looking for something gross that's also well-written, this'll do it for you. I think some of the more experimental parts went over my head tbh, but I still somehow couldn't put this one down.

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Content Warnings

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

i showed you my worms please respond 🥺

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia and Fatphobia

antimony's review against another edition

dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

really really good..when the reviews say alison rumfitt is a master of disgust they are so right bc her books affect me more viscerally than any other horror books i’ve read but in such a way that you can’t tear yourself away from them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

Major content warning for parasites

kyullua's review against another edition

dark tense 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

4.0

well I usually consider myself to not be overly sensitive to reading things, but this book really was out here picking the things that I find the most disgusting worms and vomit

as with tell me i’m worthless, i loved this book, had to cut some points for the ending as it felt a bit rushed, but honestly still surprised that the last few pages still had me just wanting to say “what the actual fuck”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Hate crime, Transphobia, Self harm, Vomit, and Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcohol and Dysphoria

hamletslover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

lrgluck's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

Alison Rumfitt once again crafted a brilliant critique of fascism through the lens of body horror

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Incest

Minor: Antisemitism and Xenophobia

melissabrodersbitch's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

andyjnmcrae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Rumfit never fails to disgust and yet intrigue me. From the bottom of my heart: what the fuck?
A gut wrenching, stomach turning, allegory for the hate against trans people that is being allowed to grow in society. Brainwyrms looks at hate as a parasite, conformity as self punishment (through extreme -and I mean extreme- kinks and domination) and what it means to be a “good” or “bad” trans person. As always both end in suffering, neither end in respect, and it’s all about how well you play their game. Rumfit demonstrates how hate will either

kill trans youth

while they have one foot out the closet door or consume trans adults until it suffocates them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Pedophilia, Murder, and Rape