Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

72 reviews

jfontaine's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

The content warning at the start of the book is crucial. Readers really need to know what they're getting themselves into with this book, and it is so dark, so graphic, so chilling. There were moments that made me feel physically ill. The narration is brilliant and nuanced. I don't know that I can recommend it because it is truly horrifying, but it's important and I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Body horror, Dysphoria, Antisemitism, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Transphobia, and Violence

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

justk's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

this book is phenomenal. it does something that ought have been done a long time ago — imagines that “a gothic house” is haunted and fuelled by fascism. the writing is conversational and beautiful, elegant and brutal, which allows the author to approach very complex topics with precision. i was devastated by it and then brought back to life again. we need more books that are direct about pain, because without looking at it as a part of living we will never be able to understand ourselves. besides, i feel like fascism might be one of the, if not entirely, the most important subject we can discuss right now.

i personally thought that the moral of the story was a bit too on the nose (

if we unite despite our differences, we can resist the biggest evil there is

), but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. especially considering how many people (judging by the reviews here) misunderstood it anyway. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug use, Body horror, Murder, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Gore, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Vomit, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Racism, Misogyny, Suicide, Sexual content, Racial slurs, and Self harm

yes, it is heavy on content warnings, but i promise it’s a book worth reading (if you can handle it — please take care)

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

chefboyavi's review

challenging dark sad tense 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

4.25

I like Rumfitt’s writing style quite a bit. I enjoy books that are disjointed, change perspective, and expect the reader to put in the work to understand what’s happening. However, I found it a bit heavy handed and there were times when I think Rumfitt could have had a bit more restraint.

Getting to the chapter titled “You” was probably the highlight of the book for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Antisemitism, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Alcohol, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Transphobia, Sexual content, Excrement, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Sexual violence

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.

evelyncore's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

This book feels and reads like a political post nut clarity - and that's good?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Body horror, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Classism, Self harm, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Addiction, Pedophilia, Bullying, Excrement, Alcoholism, Islamophobia, Outing, Deadnaming, Deportation, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Ableism

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