Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Tell Me I'm Worthless

This book was a lot to get through at times and definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

It has a lot that it wants to say about the relationship between transphobia (specifically TERFs) and fascism, and especially how fascism can weaponise trauma to make even those hurt by it unwilling participants in spreading hate. It is very unsubtle about what it’s wanting to say through the story and the characters, but it at least seems self-aware of how blunt it is. But it could feel over-the-top and preachy at times.

I love the way the haunted house was as much a character in the story as the other two (human) main characters. The plot is very slow but the main characters’ internal monologues made it seem less slow/boring than it otherwise would have. The author did a really good job of portraying a sense of madness and losing grip on reality that made you question what is really going on. The ending was not as satisfying as I would have hoped, but overall I did like it.

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elizabethtrue's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

4.0

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unluckycat13's review against another edition

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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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jfontaine's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings