Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

55 reviews

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

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

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

challenging dark

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Abortion, Blood, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, Excrement, and Gore

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

yassassin'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Even though the book contains a trigger warning, please pay attention to the warnings included in my review and on this site before reading. If there are any topics you need or want to avoid, chances are this book covers them.
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?

If the segments detailing worms oozing out of a TERF's eyes caused me to stop reading for a second to catch my breath, the passages about the same woman purposely misgendering and attacking her trans child made me want to scream in despair.

You're likely to either finish this book with a deep feeling of depression at the state of trans rights, or set it aside with the need to fight harder than ever to make sure it never goes as far as what the book describes.
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.

If the author herself feels the need to literally address the reader in the middle of the book just to warn them of the extremity of the following chapters, I can't help but feel at least some of it is somewhat gimmicky. I found myself thinking: the social transphobic horror was horrifying and anxiety-inducing enough, are you sure the point will be reinforced by including incest, detailed descriptions of masturbation with animal feces or random unrelated stories about suicides and murdered influencers?

I was about to rate Brainwyrms 4 stars, because I did enjoy reading it (in some twisted way) and I appreciate someone taking the extreme route to speaking out on the situation in the UK and elsewhere. Then while writing this review, I realized the two main aspects of the story didn't blend well in the finale, which felt simultaneously too grand, and not grand enough. Or better still, not satisfying enough. Not terrible enough to make a very ugly point, not cathartic enough to make it all feel worth it. Too open, but too concrete at the same time. One day, I will have to find the strength to do a reread, maybe. Hopefully, by then the world won't be taken over by Brainwyrms. I hope Alison Rumfitt gets to write many more deranged books that will make me question her sanity, and mine for reading all of them.

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Content Warnings

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

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Mental illness, Body horror, Child death, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Deadnaming, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual content

djbobthegirl's review against another edition

fast-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Incest, Misogyny, Deadnaming, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Child death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Mental illness, Violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Self harm, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Trafficking, Alcohol, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Stalking

fuathling's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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? Yes

2.75

Perhaps I'm still processing this book but in all honestly I can't give it more than a lukewarm review.

If you're looking for something to cringe over, to grimace at while reading due to the sheer abundance of grotesque, stomach-churning filth mounted on the pages: it's a book worthy of conversation. 

After reading this I found myself wishing I knew someone else who had just so that we could both stare at each other and collectively chant "what the fuck". 

Alison seems to depict transphobia as a disease-- which isn't altogether a poor depiction; but fails to tie her story together in a way that really feels concrete.

I finished this story envisioning a loosely knotted ball of dripping gore with no real core plot tying it all together. It seems to unravel at the end in a sort of "yes, its just more gross stuff" way that doesn't feel at all satisfying and instead left me going "huh???"

I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't impressed, either.

The book is chalk full of fucked up scenes, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone triggered by transphobic, dysphoric, or sexual scenarios. There's a lot to be flagged about this book, but if you can handle it-- I suggest reading it with a friend: that way you at least have someone as equally confused as you are by the end of it all.

I get the overlying message, but I failed to find the real satisfaction of a book well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Violence, Murder, and Sexual violence

hydecircus's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.75

blowfly girls impact. but fr soooo fucking good. absolutely obsessed with the unique style of this novel the curious cat chapter especially is such a smart way of showing character...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Kidnapping, Transphobia, Murder, Body shaming, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Incest, Body horror, Pregnancy, Rape, Classism, Physical abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Cursing, Deadnaming, and Hate crime

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death