Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

20 reviews

swamp_rat's review

dark emotional sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Body horror, Rape, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Self harm

Moderate: Hate crime

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Deadnaming, and Addiction

ecn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

I don’t even know what to say about the book. It was absolutely brutal in every possible way and I could barely get through it. This book contains seemingly every trigger so check that before moving forward.
I can’t say I enjoyed this book but it was really well written and reflective of everything evil and vile about the world we live in. It’s hard to read a book with shitty MCs who are also not shitty and oppressed by society. I know that’s the point but phew. There was nothing light or good to hold into in this.

The ending also left me kind of confused as to what actually happened (whether this was bc of the multiple POVs, the jumping around of timelines, or bc I read the audiobook, I have no idea).

Overall feeling very ???? I would like for my scowl and jaw to unclench but I doubt that will happen any time soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Antisemitism, Rape, Vomit, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Deadnaming, Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Dysphoria, Drug use, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Animal death, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Deportation, Death, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Classism, and Blood

books_onthe_ground's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Child abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Death, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Addiction

miggyfool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body shaming, Death, Excrement, Misogyny, Torture, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Classism, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Body horror, Addiction, Outing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Colonisation, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, and Rape

gia0203's review

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.25

This book showed how fascism is circular - how our history is shared and how quickly our anger at our own circumstances becomes hatred for others. It was hard to read at times, but that’s the point. Horror is a fantastic way to examine the world around us, and Alison knows it.

The climax of this book is harrowing and I felt nauseous reading it. What a fucking ride. The way the text splits into two… Original, terrific. 

I will say though that the idealistic ending between Alice and Ila is forced. This book should have ended on page 252. I don’t buy for a second that they could’ve escaped that house and moved on so happily. Maybe I’m pessimistic, but trauma isn’t so easily erased and radicalism can’t be so quickly undone. These two were doomed from the start. It was just too quickly wrapped up. I felt like Alison was just too fond of them to give them the ending they should have had.

 

I also think that the social commentary became too much at times. I understood the point was that all oppression is similar, but it was just a bit too much to comprehend.

That said, I will never read this book again, but I would completely recommend it. It is not for the faint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Death, Suicide, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Self harm, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Abortion, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Excrement, and Gun violence

my_a's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gothic as the genre was intended. One of the few modern gothic horrors that gets it right. Wow I am still processing this book. A difficult but compelling read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Transphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Body horror, Rape, Homophobia, Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Excrement, Blood, Antisemitism, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

emimli's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

0.5

I wanted to love this book so badly, but it left me feeling extremely disappointed and kind of pissed off.

Things I liked:
- A very original twist on the haunted house trope that explores how ideological violence leaves its imprint on people, spaces, and cultures
- Some genuinely horrifying imagery that will stick with me for a while
- Deep explorations of trauma, repression, and the ways in which violent victimization can reshape a person’s perception of reality
- A complex central relationship, wherein both characters love each other as people but hate what the other represents ideologically

Things I hated:
- This book was edgy purely for the sake of being edgy at times, to the point where it became tedious; Rumfitt could not go two lines without having a ~welcome 2 my twisted mind~ moment
- The blurb refers to this book as "darkly funny" but there was not a single ounce of humour anywhere in here. What am I supposed to be laughing at? Violent anti-Semitism? Graphic sexual assault? Fuck off
- The political commentary was extremely heavy-handed, to the point where it almost seemed intentionally corny, as if the book was mocking its own denunciation of fascism, which definitely isn't a good look
- The two main characters are horrible fucking people. One is a TERF and one is a straight-up neo-Nazi. Okay, fine. Unlikeable characters can make for interesting stories. Yet the book pushes you to sympathize with them, particularly the neo-Nazi. No. I will not sympathize with them. They both fucking suck and I hate them
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The character “development” is handled poorly and inconsistently. At the end of the book, the main characters get some kind of attempt at a redemption arc, where they’re finally in a seemingly healthy relationship and are doing activist work. The aforementioned TERF character has come out as trans and renounced his former ideology, which was an interesting conclusion to his arc. But the other main character’s literal Nazism is never brought up again. Let me repeat that: the author never addresses that one of the main characters is a LITERAL NAZI again. The reader is clearly meant to root for the couple in this epilogue, but how the fuck am I supposed to do that when ONE IS A FUCKING NAZI. I absolutely could not stand the book’s attempts to make me sympathize with Alice or want the best for her, because she. is. a. Nazi. All the way to the bitter end.
- Hannah?????? What the fuck was the point of her death and subsequent imprisonment in the house?? For a book that beats you over the head at every turn with the messages it wants you to internalize, it sure did lack any  explanation whatsoever for Hannah’s role in the story. “White women are symbols”  is repeated several times throughout the book and I presume that this is somehow related to Hannah’s fate, but I could not for the life of me tell you how. Like yes it applies in a literal sense to Hannah (*shudder*) but what is it supposed to mean in relation to the broader themes of the book???

- The book’s historical engagement with the topic of fascism is strangely limited to WW2, even though it alludes to ancient Britain (Albion) being some kind of source of fascism and fascism-adjacent beliefs. Soooo what happened in the years between Albion and WW2? Fascism didn’t emerge out of a vacuum, fully formed in the 1930s - it was built on the foundations of existing ideologies. So where is the discussion about the ideologies that fascism grew out of? Imperialism, colonization, the ideological construction of whiteness, of masculinity, etc.? There was no clear connection between the ancient source of the house’s power and the fascist ideology that haunts it, because the author never attempts to draw one. She just jumps from ~the vaguely ancient times~  to WW2 without linking anything together.

Overall, the message of this book can be succinctly summarized as “fascism bad.” Which yes, that’s absolutely true, but I already knew that. While this book has a lot to offer to the horror genre, it adds nothing new or interesting to political conversation. And it’s weird efforts to make me sympathize with its anti-Semitic main character pissed me the fuck off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Genocide, Transphobia, Violence, Animal death, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Misogyny

carleneb's review

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

I can lie the writing is fantastic but this is so so dark i could barely handle it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gore, Gaslighting, Addiction, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

blackcatkai's review

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

4.5

4.5/5☆~ CW:  blood, body horror, gore, violence, transphobia, antisemitism, trauma, alcohol & drug use, rape, fascism, self-harm, suicide, death, mentions of incel rhetoric & the gender critical movement as a whole.

Now, i will admit, I am bad at understanding what satire is & isn't. I know it usually includes things being amped up to the nth degree, and this book definitely does that! i've seen a couple places say this is darkly humourous, but that aspect didn't hit me. Maybe the bits i just found weird & off-putting (in a good way) were oddly funny to others? very possibly.

overall, this one hit me in the heart a LOT. it's a book about fascism and trauma and it uses those real life things to tell a haunted house story. the house is fascism, and it's absolutely insidious. Tell Me I'm Worthless goes overboard with the horror to show how deeply ingrained fascism and hatred are in our culture, specifically England, but honestly, here in the US as well. How trauma and different life experiences can thrust you into being so so susceptible to fascist/right wing ideals & conspiracies. how even those who may be allies or in certain groups themselves can still fall victim to these ideologies. because its in the very soil, the very essence, of our cultures. and that's terrifying in so many ways.

there were definitely a few moments that felt like they could've been shorter, but overall, the experience was visceral. a lot, if not most, of right wing/fascist rhetoric is inherently transphobic, antisemetic, sexist, and all around gruesome & upsetting, in our very real lives, especially online where people can hide behind a screen. Rumfitt puts that all over this work, so it's very good to be aware of the especially before diving in.

There's a content warning at the beginning of the book that I give high props to Rumfitt for. More books should do that. Please do take those seriously here, they are explicit and serious on every page and it's best to be aware and take care.

okay i think that's enough of a ramble review. basically, i liked this, and i am definitely picking up more of her work in the future!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Death, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Suicide, Sexual violence, Body horror, Racism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Cursing, Rape, Violence, Transphobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Self harm, Homophobia, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, and Addiction

Minor: Classism and Ableism

szpetot's review

challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Murder, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Death, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt