Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

50 reviews

lovelylilelle's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Hate crime, Incest, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Child death, Excrement, Outing, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Abortion, Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Drug abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, and Fatphobia

iheartm4m's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Death, Excrement, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Gore, Sexual harassment, Torture, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Transphobia

danimacuk's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.75

jesus fucking christ... gross.

two thumbs up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Vomit

Moderate: Blood, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape

owlribbon's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Incest, Gore, Excrement, Dysphoria, Body horror, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Drug use, Child abuse, Vomit, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Violence

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

First and foremost: this book is NOT for everyone (it’s probably not even for most, tbh).

It’s RIFE with graphic depictions of shockingly taboo sex (way worse than whatever you’re imagining right now). If that means I’ve already lost you? Totally understandable. Do not read this, lol.

BUT, I think pushing through the grossness of the book opens the door for some really important discussions about its themes. I mean, aside from being an extreme horror novel, it IS a timely political satire about transphobia in Britain. 

The main motif that I noticed again and again was the idea of bodies as “hosts” for something. One character has an impregnation kink and obsesses over the idea of hosting a fetus, another character is aroused by the idea of hosting a parasitic organism, and the villains of the story are people infected with extraterrestrial brain worms that are meant to symbolize (and also manifest in the story as) transphobia. 

The concepts of womanhood, motherhood and internet culture are also explored; and, to my great amusement, one of the villainous (and worm-riddled) characters is a not-so-subtle allusion to JK Rowling.

My only complaints are that a few chapters went a bit off the rails and became too abstract for my taste—some are written as this second person POV stream-of-consciousness that lacks about 70% of the necessary punctuation—and the r slur gets used in a way that I found gratuitous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Sexual content, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, Ableism, and Deadnaming

ellisdex's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

jesus christ. i have brainwyrms brainworms

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Excrement, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Gore, Death, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Body horror, Violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Classism

Moderate: Blood, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Genocide, Stalking, Torture, Suicide, Dysphoria, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, and Grief

beaverla's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Body horror, Incest, Dysphoria, Drug use, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Gore, Excrement, Violence, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder

gilroi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

 Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in return for a fair review. Sorry for reading it in one sitting.

Weird, lyrical, unhinged, whip-smart, extremely painful. This book is difficult to describe, but that's a compliment; it's complex and refuses to compromise, while still having highly engaging and readable prose. Most experimental / poetic novels are a little too obtuse for me, but Rumfitt's eye for prose and person always sits well.

In the end, I think I liked it less than Tell Me I'm Worthless, though I don't really think that's the book's fault. While it begins with (helpful!) content warnings, it doesn't really go into enough detail for me (I'm fine with books not having content warnings, for the record, but this book's CWs were a bit vague). In the end, it dwelled on subjects I personally find incredibly gross. Not morally suspect, not bad, not wrong, just, for me, subjectively, gross. And that will inevitably make me like a book less, no matter how well it's written.

And Brainwyrms is incredibly, startlingly well written. It's at least as good as Tell Me I'm Worthless, perhaps better in how it expands its scope and aims. The book has a lot more to say on a wide range of issues, but still hits the topic home. If you disliked the unsubtlety and long rambly prose style of TMIW, though, this book is similar. Personally, I find that a success; I love Rumfitt's work and her style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fatphobia, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexism, Self harm, Rape, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Drug use, Death, and Excrement

Content warning for graphic scat, water sports, bugs / parasites, parasitic infection.

jackalopecore's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Transphobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Vomit, and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Rape, Murder, Violence, and Hate crime

sleaterkenneth's review against another edition

BOOT NASTY!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Excrement, Incest, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Vomit, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship