Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

106 reviews

spinebinding's review

challenging dark emotional 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

A compelling horror novel that felt like looking in a grimy bathroom mirror. A complex story dealing with the complex intersections of transness and racial identity, how fascism or psudo-fascist states and cultures eat into and violate every person living under them and how it violently separates us and turns us against each other for it's own benefit, making us both the victim and victimizer. 

This story focuses heavily on the fascism and socio-political climate of England.  As an American reader, the themes and concepts did translate and the story resonated deeply with me, but you will find it feels slightly misaligned with American fascism simply because they are different breeds of the same species.   

Some may find the imagery and messaging too heavy handed, but for me it never really felt out of place.  When reading others' opinions I would think 'of course it's heavy handed, fascism is heavy handed.  It beat's itself into you and many do not even notice.'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Racial slurs and Death

Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Misogyny, Blood, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Hate crime

trashgobby's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: Antisemitism, Murder, Misogyny, Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Racism, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Deadnaming, Animal death, Classism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Hate crime

Minor: Excrement, Drug use, Confinement, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

musical_alex's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

yikes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gore, Vomit, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Addiction, Homophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Excrement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual harassment

dodgeremerson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Absolutely brutal. 

This book made me deeply uncomfortable the entire time I read it. I don't regret reading it, as it is a good look at how easy it is to fall into fascist ideology, especially for young people and marginalized individuals. 

It is not for everyone, but if you have the stomach for it, it's worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Hate crime, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Body shaming, Gore, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Torture, Violence, Racism, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Bullying, Confinement, Dysphoria, Grief, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Vomit

swampthoughts's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

This book was a bit much for me. I like horror stories but there was a lot happening here. Definitely look at the content warnings if you want to read it, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it personally. I'm rating it down the middle because I honestly am not sure I've processed it enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Transphobia, and Rape

Moderate: Body horror, Hate crime, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Islamophobia

chainsawheartbooks's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

*deep breath* Ok, I think this is a very heavy book, one that’s darkly and deeply reflective of society and the ways in which we and others perceive ourselves, as well as the trans community and what people deem the “ideal female body”. It’s well written, and I don’t believe that a cis author could have written this or done this topic the justice and truth that Rumfitt did, but it’s such a heavy book, one that feels like it’s pushing down more on your chest with each chapter, and so (rightly) political that I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it, it’s more like I’m glad to have experienced it, but I couldn’t read this again.

The language in this, especially considering the subject material and events, can often be very crude, cruel and uncomfortable to read, which I suppose is part of the point of the book. 

I am very glad that Rumfitt included the trigger warnings at the start of the book, they helped me prepare for some of the events and the language that would be used, not necessarily to the point that I knew just how heavy they would be but enough that I was going into the story understanding that I would be reading things that would (and in certain places did) really affect me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Self harm, Body horror, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Vomit, Antisemitism, Bullying, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Deadnaming

pullingthorns's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Suicide, Confinement, Car accident, Hate crime, Blood, Deadnaming, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Drug use, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, and Body horror

ana_reads's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

3.5

I finished this book about 3 weeks ago and I still don't really know how to talk about it. I think the best I can summarize my thoughts is just to say that this book is mean. It's mean to it's characters in the violence they experience and perpetrate and it's mean to it's audience in how graphic some of that description can be. 

There are so many graphic scenes of all different types of violence, it was both shocking and uncomfortable to read. I know much of it is purposeful - it's a horror novel after all, a lot of that discomfort is part of what the author was intending - but it did put me off of the story over all towards the end. There was just so much and it was so unrelenting, there wasn't really room to take in any individual action and process it before the next bad thing was happening and the shock kicks in again. It started to feel gratuitous. I think that kind of took away a little bit from the overall themes/messaging the author was trying to convey as it left me feeling mostly just numb by the end of the book.  

That being said, the writing is quite good. I was drawn in the whole time - more specifically with the flash back scenes with the house's history. Those sections felt like classic Haunted House fiction and while still shocking and gruesome, there was a certain level of disconnect from the present that helped buffer how intense it felt. I listened to the audiobook and Nicky Endres performance was incredible! Their voice was compelling and almost hypnotic, especially in their performance as Albion - it added so much to the reading experience for me. 

I don't really know how to end this review. I still don't know if I think it was good or bad, I don't know if I can recommend it in good faith knowing just how packed with some pretty dark and graphic scenes it is. Mostly, I know I will be thinking about it for a long time and maybe that's all that needs to be said about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Body horror

Moderate: Antisemitism, Drug use, Torture, and Self harm

betris's review

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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Transphobia, Self harm, Blood, Torture, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Suicide, Racism, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

kessejeen's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Grief, Death, Vomit, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Racism, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Drug use, and Alcoholism