Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

54 reviews

unluckycat13's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-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 normally don't like a book about such awful people, but honestly I've definitely known the people in this book. Especially Alice. To some extent I've been the people in this book at one point or another. It's a very raw and honest book, people say that about a lot of things but this is sincerity without the saccharine coating that's usually used. 

It has unhinged fetish posts that are reminiscent of the real Internet, and it plays with the structure of a novel in ways that are meta without breaking the story. 

The author builds moments of genuine tension that I rarely feel in a novel. The down side is that the author frequently undercut these moments too. 

My favorite aspect was that the book is very topical. Most fiction is afraid to be set in the world we live in, identifiable and dated. It must always be timeless unless it's a period piece. This book is very identifiably the world I inhabit and see every day. 

Overall solid and I look forward to seeing what other books the author writes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Rape, Violence, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Drug abuse, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Drug use, Deadnaming, Confinement, Bullying, Body shaming, Antisemitism, Animal death, and Addiction

meguary's review against another edition

dark slow-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

Trigger warnings for fascism, racism, anti-semitism, transphobia, and probably every other type of ism you could think of honestly. This reads like torture porn and the type of edgelord writing that’s solely intended to upset without actually saying anything helpful or useful. I know a lot of people seemed to like it but I really wouldn’t recommend it to anyone 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Torture, Racial slurs, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Rape, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Body horror, Classism, Death, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

marjati_reads's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Antisemitism, Mental illness, Body shaming, Drug use, Rape, Murder, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Blood, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Racism, Mass/school shootings, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Body horror, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

errie's review

challenging dark

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Body shaming, Torture, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Rape, Hate crime, Alcohol, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Murder, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Transphobia, and Self harm

atticusboo's review

dark slow-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

2.0

This book had so much potential - drawing on the basic ideals of a haunted house (strongly inspired by the haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson). 
The author spend too much time trying to show how clever and deep they were that the story just got lost in itself and fell off into rambling nonsense towards the end.
Some chapters are very good at creating frightening, atmospheric horror but overall this should have stayed as a creative writing project in someone's journal imo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Transphobia, Body horror, Gore, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Drug use, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Self harm

This book contains VERY graphic depictions of rape and sexual assault.

genderbandit's review

challenging dark medium-paced

3.75

As I'm sure other readers have pointed out, i think the house metaphor could have been a little more subtle. I'm sure I missed some of what was going on in here as it's a very British book, but overall it was challenging and interesting and it did make me think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Gore, Rape, Racial slurs, Outing, and Mental illness

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

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

catatlanta's review

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-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? It's complicated

I don’t know how to rate this. An uncomfortable, compelling, experimental exploration of fascism, and particularly the rise of transphobia in the UK. Genuinely horrifying and painfully real even in its most exaggerated moments. Essential queer reading but not something I am comfortable recommending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Body horror, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Vomit, Rape, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Torture, Sexual assault, Gore, Excrement, Violence, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt