Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

47 reviews

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

grey_jayne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Alison Rumfitt's debut smashed my expectations. I wonder if a cis person would get as much out of this art but as a trans person, I felt very seen, especially in the darkness. What a terrifying haunted house and such traumatized people. And that ending! Make sure you check the content warnings: when Gretchen Felker-Martin calls something "brutal", you know it's gonna hit hard. And it does.

Rumfitt is such my kind of author that I will be rolling into her follow up Brainwyrms soon. In the U.S. both books came out this year so I'm playing catch up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Body shaming, Bullying, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Animal death

rosekantorczyk's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Self harm, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Gore, Rape, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Classism, Vomit, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Excrement, Gore, Blood, and Deadnaming

Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Alcohol, Animal death, and Pedophilia

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

3.5 but Goodreads doesn’t have half stars. Tell Me I’m Worthless is a haunted house story that is so much more than that. I went into this pretty blind with no expectations and I’m glad I did because if you pick this up looking for just a haunted house story you will be disappointed because there is so much social commentary on trans rights, misogyny, violence against minorities, and our disjointed and hateful culture in todays world.

This book had scenes that were absolutely horrifying and had so many references to other literary haunted house stories, like The Haunting of Hill House and Bluebeard’s ghost. While the horror elements were superb this book at times read like a fever dream with chapters that were strings of consciousness from the characters, including the house itself. The author intertwines the supernatural horror with the horror of bigotry, hate, and sexual violence so well that there were scenes I struggled to read. 

If you’re looking for a unique horror story with diverse characters and a meld of horror and social commentary then I highly recommend Tell Me I’m Worthless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Gore, Racism, Animal death, Misogyny, Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Vomit, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Blood, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual violence

noemi_qu's review

challenging dark tense 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? Yes

3.25

This is not a story you read for escapism, it was a challenge to get through most of the graphic yet realistic details. Take the content warnings very much to heart and be in a good headspace to digest it all. 
The third act unfortunately felt too "eyelids forced opened a la clockwork orange" but still feels in line with what the author wanted so I'm going with a mid rating for that and the epilogue. It was a book that had something to say and it said it loud and brutal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, Death, Body shaming, Transphobia, Rape, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Antisemitism, Racism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, and Body horror

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Racial slurs, Animal death, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, and Pedophilia

woweewhoa's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Rape, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gore, Excrement, Drug use, Sexism, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Xenophobia, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Infertility, and Homophobia

Minor: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, and Fire/Fire injury

elenavarg's review

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

It’s been a while since a horror book managed to truly horrify me, but this one certainly did. It had an overpowering sense of dread through-out as well as some truly terrifying scenes. It managed to walk the thin line between misery porn/exploitation and horror imagery.

I’m taking off one star because some of the more stream of conciousness chapters were not for my liking (they’re very hard for me to read, so I don’t enjoy them as a stylistic choice), one particularly on the nose scene of swastika-related body-horror (the scene was so absurd it made me laugh) and the weird, off-putting feeling I get when I’m not quite sure of an author’s ethnicity while their work discussed racism (I couldn’t find out, if Rumfitt herself is Jewish and/or brown; if so, this critisism is totally unrelated and unfounded).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Hate crime, Blood, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Rape, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, Racism, Death, Deadnaming, Cursing, Xenophobia, and Self harm

Moderate: Islamophobia, Grief, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

ciaranolio's review

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

One of my favourite books, outright. An incredible, twisted horror story about fascism, womanhood, and social privilege, revolving around a haunted house (which is also England), among the finest of its kind in the storied and ghost-ridden neighbourhood of horror writing. Reminiscent of Gretchen Felker-Martin and Jonathan Sims in writing style and subject matter, this book concerns itself heavily with radicalisation, gender, and intersections of identity. Rumfitt's POV characters are incredible, both sympathetic and unlikeable in their own wholly separate ways. A must read, in my mind, for those not immediately put off by the graphic subject matter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Rape, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Blood, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Self harm, Gore, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Body shaming

Minor: Alcohol, Deadnaming, Drug use, Genocide, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

Violent nazism, fascism, and especially modern white nationalism are at the core of this book. Proceed with caution if these are difficult topics, as Rumfitt (quite rightly) pulls no punches with the subject of the horror she describes.

martinza's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I cried a little bit after finishing it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Excrement, Murder, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, Grief, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Transphobia

gilroi's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 While this novel is searingly raw, absolutely none of it is undercooked. A testament to the work, considering how many incredible risks the writing takes, not just with form, but with content. This is a very specific book, about a very specific time, and a very specific experience. I don't know how people will understand this book if they're unfamiliar with how the internet treats trans people-- the TERF 'movement', mumsnet and #IStandWithMaya and trans widows and 4chan Nazis and sissy hypno. All of these things are real. All of these things are not parody. The book is about these things. Which is to say, fascism.

This book is a slap in the face from someone who loves you. Maybe you can forgive the violence. Maybe you can't. That's your choice. It might be the only choice you have. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Blood, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Racial slurs, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Outing, Deadnaming, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Excrement