Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

10 reviews

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

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.5

A phenomenal novel, if not entirely enjoyable, it is a harrowing exploration of trauma through bigotry and intergenerational fascism can lead to prejudice and self-loathing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Cursing, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Outing, Death, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Deadnaming, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Vomit, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, War, and Excrement

Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

Be prepared for instances of INCEL culture, terrorism, bombing, disturbing hate symbols, TERF culture, woman-on-woman sexual assault, serial killing, self-hatred, strap-on sex, the loss of a friend, and public sex.

kumquats87's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Vomit, Violence, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

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

thebankofbooks's review

challenging hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Racism, Rape, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Excrement, Deportation, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, and Toxic friendship

akinderjim's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

monsterofidaho's review

challenging dark 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

4.5

Tell Me I'm Worthless is a punch to the teeth. The House at the center of this book will gut you, talk to you, tease you with the temptations of violence and hatred. The treatment of the House itself and giving it a voice as strong as those of the main characters is seriously not like anything I've ever read. I've never been scared of haunted houses. Unnerved, certainly, or excited. This one terrified me and it's a lingering fear, one that hooks its claws in and sticks. As one might expect, there are many triggers in this book including but not limited to fascism, r*pe, transphobia, hate crimes, self harm, and suicide. Tell Me I'm Worthless is compelling, furious, and uniquely powerful so read safely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Racism, Transphobia, Blood, Sexual violence, Body horror, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Excrement, Torture, Violence, Deadnaming, Vomit, Homophobia, and Hate crime

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

sleaterkenneth's review

challenging dark tense fast-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

Be very mindful of the content warnings but seriously one of the best horror novels I've ever read. The writing is incredible and the concept is so well executed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Racism, Antisemitism, Body horror, Gore, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Hate crime

Minor: Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, and Self harm

danidamico's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Uf, qué viaje que es esta novela. Tell Me I'm Worthless es el debut de la escritora inglesa Alison Rumfitt. Es una novela intensa y con mucha personalidad, mucho carácter. Es clara la influencia de Shirley Jackson que la propia autora menciona, me gustó esa mezcla de terror clásico con una violencia político-social que está muy vigente. También eso es algo a destacar creo yo, que la novela es super actual y captura el clima de la época, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta los grupos de extrema derecha que están creciendo en todo el mundo; desde Gran Bretaña, donde ocurre el relato de Rumfitt, pasando por VOX en España, los libertarios en Argentina, José Antonio Kast en Chile y muchos otros etcéteras.

Bien, mi problema es que por momentos el libro se me hacía demasiado intenso, como si Rumfitt quisiera abarcar demasiados temas y reflexiones en un mismo texto. Y siento que esa es una característica muy común en los debuts literarios, les escritores intentan meter todos los temas que les apasionan, todo lo que les interesa, todo todo todo, como si fuera la única vez que van a ser publicados. Hay escenas de la novela que me parecieron magníficas y me fascinaron, mientras que ottas me resultaron forzadas y algo toscas, como que le faltaba un poco más de sutileza tal vez. A veces se logra expresar mucho más a través de la elipsis o de pocas palabras que mostrando absolutamente todo, siendo 100% literal y explicando todo (

Por ejemplo, la escena en la que Hannah es doblada y transformada en una esvástica, me pareció muuuy forzado y algo torpe

). También hay capítulos que me parecieron casi perfectos, pero otros que se sintieron caóticos, un poco desordenados. No sé, eso, como que es un toque desequilibrada. 

De todos modos, no quiero dejar de destacar nuevamente el entusiasmo, la intensidad y la pasión que están presentes a lo largo de todo el libro. Fue una lectura muy particular y bastante fresca, comparable a Boy Parts de Eliza Clark en ciertos aspectos. Quedo con ganas de seguir leyendo el trabajo de Alison y es un gran comienzo para su carrera. La verdad que las nuevas escritoras británicas me tienen enamorada, siempre tienen algo interesante para ofrecer.

P.D.: Tiene muuuuchos trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Grief