Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

54 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I actually don’t know if I recommend this because though it is meant to be horror, possibly satire, and providing searing commentary on the many -isms and current zeitgeist, I am …. genuinely concerned that it may cause more harm than spark rumination. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m uninterested in forcing folks to read through deeply traumatic and painful events and hateful messaging (obviously posited as wrong and bigoted, but still!) just to get a point across. I’m unsure if this book executes the message it is trying to get across well enough to present the topics at hand.

I felt thoroughly creeped out, uncomfortable, and heartbroken as I read about Ila and Alice’s experiences in the haunted house that left their friend Hannah behind so many years ago. However, again, I genuinely don’t know if I recommend this. I am not saying there’s no room for deeply disturbing literary fictional horror, because obviously the trans community is under attack in the United States, with more policy targeting their rights and general wellbeing. I just don’t know if this book’s graphic nature was for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Transphobia, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Dysphoria, Child death, Murder, Suicide, Deadnaming, Blood, Antisemitism, Gore, Drug use, and Cursing

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Blood, Racism, Violence, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Antisemitism, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Gore, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Addiction, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Animal death, and Excrement

Minor: Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Child abuse, Car accident, Infertility, Child death, and Pedophilia

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

errie's review

challenging dark

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Mental illness, Body shaming, Torture, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Emotional abuse, Rape, Hate crime, Alcohol, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Murder, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Transphobia, and Self harm

mesy_mark's review against another edition

dark tense

• 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

3.0

 This is transgressive horror, a genre I don't know much about and heard of in another book in the same genre reviewed by Jessie Gender. It was in short a grossly weird ass book that I liked even if I was confused at times by the text.

Listening to this book, the narrator sounded androgynous and was present to listen to (even if the content was any but). I like the description of the house and how it festers through time-changing motives but always has the same result in the end. Ila, our terf, Alice, our trans friend, and Hannah, the third, go into the house abandoned and hunted and only Ila and Alice come out. Now both women need to return home after some years of hard life.

This is my first foray into transgressive horror and to say it is interesting genre is lacking the depths of the graphic nature of this text. Heave handed in the fascism of Britain weave through the people that in turn are all tied to the house. It festered and you want to come home. Besides being graphic and jarring to get through that I did have some difficulty at some points seeing what the author included and what scenes. Some of that confusion was cleared up by the end but a couple lingered out.

In short I think this is a weird ass book that does intrigue me to try this genre again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Murder, and Rape

Minor: Animal death

genderbandit's review

challenging dark medium-paced

3.75

As I'm sure other readers have pointed out, i think the house metaphor could have been a little more subtle. I'm sure I missed some of what was going on in here as it's a very British book, but overall it was challenging and interesting and it did make me think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Gore, Rape, Racial slurs, Outing, and Mental illness

eanna's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Racism, Rape, Torture, Antisemitism, Murder, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexism, Body shaming, Blood, Death, and Sexual assault

trashgobby's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder, Misogyny, Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Racism, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Deadnaming, Animal death, Classism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Hate crime

Minor: Excrement, Drug use, Confinement, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexual content, Self harm, and Toxic relationship