Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

51 reviews

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The most horrifying and disgusting book I have ever read. 
Also one of the most excellent.
Will give you nightmares and make you nauseous. 
Absolutely brilliant book about trauma, Fascism, and the Trans experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Death, Excrement, Grief, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

zetafiction's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Brutal, moving, darkly funny, perversely sexy. Devastation and what lies beyond it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Homophobia, Excrement, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Murder, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Gore, Vomit, Torture, Suicide, Mental illness, and Lesbophobia

marselise's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Rape, Toxic friendship, Racism, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Body horror, Violence, Gore, and Self harm

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

bookswithallison's review

dark

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

jesshindes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

5.0

This is another horror and it does what I love horror to do, i.e. explore the human condition. It's a haunted house novel, except for the house is also England, and what it's haunted by is fascism. It's a story about Alice, who is a trans woman, and Ila, who is - or was - her best friend, until a day three years ago when they went into the house together along with their other friend Hannah, and only the pair of them came out. They both remember perfectly the trauma visited upon them. They both remember it differently. And both of them are still in Brighton, where they were back then, and they can hear the house calling them back.

Like my last read, I'd only recommend it if you have a strong stomach: it includes graphic scenes of sexual assault as well as homophobia, transphobia, body horror, and suicide. BUT, I thought it was absolutely banging. It's the first book I've read that really gets at the specific, grim feeling that I increasingly associate with British politics, with what it feels like to be living in a country that feels like it's slipping precipitously rightward, where the public discourse is getting more and more aggressive. That pit-of-your stomach feeling that you get when you log onto Twitter and see Keir Starmer suggesting that minority rights should be dependent on majority assent? When you see a British woman spouting hate with a row of Australian neo-Nazis behind her? That's the nastiness that this novel is probing.

One of the cover quotes on my edition describes this novel as 'punk' and I think that's a good adjective for it. It's not one of those beautifully crafted little gem-type novels; although there's a clear structure driving the central narrative forward, it has an unruly quality. It wanders off on tangents, it shifts tenses and perspecgives, it gives you side stories and histories and it hops back and forward in time. There are at least two long stream-of-consciousness passages that are more like prose poetry than anything else, and one scene told from two perspectives in parallel (I actually loved this bit, although it's one of the most horrible in the book). But I liked that about it: I felt like Rumfitt was very clear about what she wanted to say and it was kind of an 'any-means-necessary' approach to saying it. 

I will say that I don't think I'm quite as cynical as this novel is, yet - there were just a few bits of it that I was reluctant to accept - but then that's horror, isn't it, showing you the dark lens on things. And I certainly didn't feel like it was that far off. Anyway. I absolutely want to emphasise the warnings because this book isn't for everyone, but I would recommend it if you're up for something really nasty and dark. It feels to me like something that will be on a university syllabus in 50 years time for people trying to figure out our specific historical moment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Hate crime

thor's review

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Body horror, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Suicide

gorejoyous's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, Transphobia, Body horror, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Excrement, Vomit, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

howlinglibraries's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

 DNF @ 51%

I'm applauding myself a little for getting this far before I decided to look up spoilers and call it a day. While this book will certainly have its audience, that audience isn't me. Not only do I think the writing is mediocre (and a very clear imitation of Shirley Jackson that falls short), but the mass amounts of hate in this book are nausea-inducing, even for someone, like me, who doesn't have triggers for these particular things.

Content-specific issues I had:

- massive amounts of anti-Semitism (VERY hateful language, numerous cruel Holocaust references, terrible treatment of a Jewish side character)

- how racist Alice is and has been in the past

- the portrayal of a closeted trans man as a very vocal and well-known TERF

- how heavy-handed the usage of rape as a plot device is (it is literally referenced and/or depicted constantly!)

As an aside, while I certainly don't feel like it's fair to hold it against a trans author for writing graphic transphobia, I have never read such gratuitous, over-the-top transphobia in any other book as this one. There's a scene in particular where a forum post/transphobic fantasy is included that is so long-winded and repetitive and cruel that I finally had to tune out the audiobook altogether until it was over.

I had tremendously high hopes for this book and author, and was genuinely banking on having a new favorite of the year here, but every single page has been an utter and complete disappointment and I can't currently say I have any desire to read future works by Rumfitt.

Thank you to the publisher and LibroFM for the audio review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Transphobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Antisemitism, Self harm, Physical abuse, and Death

squid_sunfish's review

Too much gratuitous sex and violence for me. Made me feel like there were ghosts in my house...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Transphobia