Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

46 reviews

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

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

shaunnow38's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, Gore, Excrement, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcohol, Suicide, Incest, Kidnapping, and Self harm

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

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

calcified_boner's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

Deliciously gross, practically parasitic. 

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Content Warnings

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

I was gonna try to finish this but then I realized omg, I don't have to because Because understanding and accepting that I'm not the target audience for white queer gross-out kink horror is a sign of maturity, like why complain about the way white people in particular fetishize violence when I can just not read it, omg!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Rape

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

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