Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

66 reviews

janbabs's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is not a book for everyone. Literally all the trigger warnings. It was messed up, disturbing and disgusting. It was like picking a scab. I was compelled to continue reading, even though it was uncomfortable.The major themes of transphobia and political terrorism/fascism felt worryingly relevant to society today, and if anything were amplified by the gruesome horror setting. The writing was brilliant and I thought the shifts between first and third person narratives worked well. This was not an easy read, but I think it's gonna stay on my mind for a long time to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Excrement, Gore, Incest, Sexual content, Dysphoria, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Medical content, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Self harm, Rape, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Infertility, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Misogyny, Mental illness, Bullying, Blood, Antisemitism, Deadnaming, Drug use, and Alcohol

catatlanta's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Dysphoria, Body horror, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Rape, Classism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Gore, Outing, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Blood, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

grey_jayne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

I immediately poured Brainwyrms into my head after reading Rumfitt's debut Tell Me I'm Worthless. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors with both books her perversely poetic filth ragebombs lobbed at society. I absolutely loved that she introduced the book as if she was writing from the 2030s and reporting back, the satire has no bounds this time around and it's pretty great.

I still don't know if her work is accessible to cis people but honestly I don't fucking care. We needed her voice from out of the darkness and I will follow her wherever she goes next. Trans books for trans people!

This is also officially the book with the most trigger warnings that I've logged so far. The label "Extreme horror" should be treated with respect and care. Enter at your own risk.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Incest, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Self harm

minxtte's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

I had to physically force myself to stop reading this for my own welfare. Obsessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Incest, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Rape, Stalking, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Mental illness, Death, Excrement, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Cursing, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Transphobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Body horror, Child abuse, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Islamophobia and Fire/Fire injury

seawarrior's review against another edition

4.0

Brainwyrms is as dark, disgusting, and wormy as promised. Rumfitt excels at ironic wit and at writing thorny characters who encounter brutal pulses of horror within their otherwise mundane lives.

The leads in Brainwyrms treat themselves and others with an aggressive disregard that unfurls into gruesome violence of cosmic proportions. I recognized their ideas and actions in some of the worst and most unwell people I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. Rumfitt is obviously someone who has grown up on the Internet, and was able to depict its underbellies and relentless noise of voices with deftness. However, I did not understand how some of the plots and themes of the book related to one another. This may be because I read the book so quickly, or it may be because I had no familiarity with Edgar Allen Poe's "The Conqueror Worm", which should be a prerequisite for this novel. I would recommend this book to other readers willing to sit with their disgust and read a story that makes no attempt to alleviate their fear of the future. The future for transgender people may be a horrifying one, and Rumfitt knows it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Murder, Chronic illness, Transphobia, Mental illness, Incest, Body horror, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, and Self harm

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Rape, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Misogyny, Animal death, and Lesbophobia

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

My second read by Alison Rumfitt and I was so excited to be brought back into her world and unique writing voice. I was not disappointed in that regard! I do think this would be a 5 star for me on my second read, as the themes were a bit harder to follow than in Tell Me I'm Worthless. Im for sure going to give this a second read in the future to focus more on what it all means, what the wryms represent, and so on. That's really a huge part of what I have loved about Alison's work thus far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Incest, Gore, Transphobia, Body shaming, Infertility, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death of parent, Hate crime, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Medical content, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Homophobia, and Outing

joy_ong's review

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Dysphoria, Violence, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Vomit, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Incest, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

fnnbnjmnks's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Body horror, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt

ribbenkast's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Had to sit with this book for quite while before settling on the 5⭐ rating. 

This book is loud, its metaphores anything but subtle. It's vile, and it absolutely demands your attention. often times horror writers are in a competition to write the grossest thing out there just for the sake of it. This book is gross and nauseating but uses that to make it's point and it makes it point well. I couldn't put it down. It's not for everyone, but it definitely was the book for me. 

Despite the book's subject and message, Allison Rumfitt shows off some amazing writing skills. They way she utelizes different perspectives, breaks the 4th wall, uses punctuation, all of it should be studied by any aspiring writer no matter which genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Infertility, Mass/school shootings, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Dysphoria

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

Unapologetically disgusting and unflinching in its commentary against the spread of transphobia, this novel is a riveting example of how pain and fear can disrupt the minds and growth of those unfortunate to be infected

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Death, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Excrement, Gore, Murder, Rape, Deadnaming, Infertility, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Transphobia, Blood, Cursing, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, and Vomit

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Outing, Suicide, Child death, Classism, Incest, Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

Minor: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Animal death, Stalking, and Antisemitism

Be aware that this is frank depictions of parasitic infestations with human bodies, urine, water sports, scat-play, anal sex, cyberbullying, online harassment, bombing, terrorism, eating and inserting excrement, fisting, running away from home, homicide, and extreme TERF behaviour.