Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

242 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Do you ever finish a book and have a headache but, like, in a good way? Like you’re going to need several hours or maybe several lifetimes to process what the fuck you just read? Like you’ve just emerged, somehow physically unscathed, from a gruesome fever dream made real? That is how I felt after finishing Tell Me I’m Worthless. 

How can I even explain to you that this book is not SCARY, but it IS terrifying? It is horrific in a way that I wasn’t fully prepared for, and also in ways that I can’t even fully comprehend. It’s gutting. It will haunt me, and I’m grateful. 

Please read the trigger warnings before reading

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

pattington's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Grizzly, horrifying, fucked up, and cynical, this is an upsetting read and I recommend extensive trigger warnings beyond what is listed at the start of the book. If you need a warning for anything at all, you’ll likely need it for Tell Me I’m Worthless. Sitting in the violence chaos and confusion of this book it feels at once too on the nose and too obscure, but marries the two into a biting dissection of hatred. There are lengthy sections of this book that are almost unreadable from either the difficulty to stomach or parse them, but I found every page enrapturing. Super cool book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Outing, and Deportation

kingsamong's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

pale_faced_fear's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail

augusts_2020's review

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

rhii_reading's review

challenging dark 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

Tell Me I’m Worthless is an incredible horror story about the relationship between Britain, transphobia, and fascism. 

Some people have said that the book is too heavy handed with the social commentary but I that the horror aspects become so intense you actually need to be brought back to the political aspects to ground it. The House is a looming symbol of the growing relationships between fascism, racism, and transphobic and how it literally haunts the characters, and is built into the country.

There was such a pervasive sense of bleakness throughout this book, which also has some of the most evil and upsetting imagery I’ve ever read. However, I really think this encapsulates how the culture war feels for some. 

The split narrative towards the end of the story also highlights issues of trauma and memory, as well as important questions surrounding who we believe, with no comfortable answers. 

All in all a powerful read I don’t think anyone will forget after reading any time soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Rape, and Transphobia

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

luvkdr's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, and Transphobia

beckjimenez's review

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Murder, and Gaslighting

piastri's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

2.0

i’m sorry but genuinely what the fuck was this. 

i feel like the message just got completely lost and the haunted house metaphor was trying to be so many things all at once that i just. couldn’t understand.

also so much fucking trauma and it just felt a bit like layering all this awful stuff for shock value and to justify that something bad happened. 

idk the concept was good and maybe i’m a bit too dumb to understand it all but this just didn’t really feel like a coherent story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

honestly i could mark nearly all of the content warnings for this book. please be careful