Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

242 reviews

thisismybooknook's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

0.25

Edited to add: this could have been much better as a short story. The Hannah chapter was better written. 

Legitimately, this book was not for me. Now, there are trigger warnings from Rumfitt at the beginning of this book, however I don't feel like they warn enough, in my opinion. I've read books that have depictions of assault, sexual assault, and other things in them... but this was essentially trauma porn: rape, transphobia, and wildly misogynistic. It left me extremely uncomfortable, as the reader, and I forced myself to finish it. It is very derogatory, hate-filled, and feels like a psychotic episode. Trigger warnings for everything you can imagine. 

Now, I'm not a writer, but I feel like this book lacked an editor. There were paragraphs that spanned four pages, sentences that were outrageously long, and portions that repeated the same thought over and over again. I counted the word political in one sentence 11 times. 

If Rumfitt's goal was to make the reader insanely uncomfortable, she did her job. I understand that this is a book about privilege, fascism, and capitalism... but maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it. I just want to completely erase this from my memory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

laiva's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

jrharris's review against another edition

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

I really had to sit with this for a minute before I felt like I could respectfully review this book. 

The summary of this book basically explains it as a haunted house story about three friends who enter it but only two come out. But it is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. 

First off, the author took the time to list trigger warnings at the beginning of this book. With good reason. There were multiple sexual assault scenes. However, there was also a warning for fascism. And that is really what this book is about. This is possibly one of the most unique and complex haunted house stories i’ve read. To have a house basically turn people into the worst version of themselves is fascinating. The descriptions of the house and how it uses its space to build fear and horror is incredible. There is definitely a fair amount of body horror in this. However, a lot of the discomfort comes from the dialogue of the characters. The transphobia and overall hate towards specific people left me with a very uneasy, sick feeling. I will say there were MANY parts that were very hard to read. It leaves you feeling very uncomfortable which does its job of being a horror book. 

When it comes to the characters, the author spends a lot of time developing Alice and Ila. They have a lot of trauma due to the house and each other. Alice is a trans woman and Ila is a cis-woman of color who exhibits transphobic behavior after escaping the house the first time. They are both very broken people and the influence of the house continues to linger on them. Their interactions together in the book were upsetting but it’s part of the journey when reading this story. Overall, the book is very bleak due to the themes. Because of the house’s ability to influence people, whether the house still stands or not, its presence continues to impact the lives of people. 

While this book is very unique, it’s not perfect for me. I found the writing style a little hard to focus on sometimes. There were many points where the characters or even the house itself went into long tangents that i didn’t always feel were necessary to the plot. That being said, this still packed a punch for me. I think this was a fascinating read but I would definitely read the trigger warnings before going into this.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC of this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Rape, and Transphobia

coffinwraith's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

throwback682's review against another edition

dark tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is the most disturbing book I’ve ever read in my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, War, and Deportation

mfallon3491's review

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Vomit

billie_budd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

absolutely brutal read but so so worth it 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, Pedophilia, and Excrement

acarter's review

4.5

I finished this book hours ago and am still absolutely shook. What a book -- such a truly horrifying look at fascism's sticky tendrils and the ways in which white supremacy undergirds all other forms of hatred. Please take heed of the content warnings on this one, though -- the body horror is REAL, and the depictions of transphobia, misogyny, mutilation, and sexual assault are very difficult to read. Rumfitt is sharp in her deployment of such ghastly content, and she knows precisely what she's doing (and how hard it will be to read.). Oof -- I'm speechless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt

gia0203's review

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.25

This book showed how fascism is circular - how our history is shared and how quickly our anger at our own circumstances becomes hatred for others. It was hard to read at times, but that’s the point. Horror is a fantastic way to examine the world around us, and Alison knows it.

The climax of this book is harrowing and I felt nauseous reading it. What a fucking ride. The way the text splits into two… Original, terrific. 

I will say though that the idealistic ending between Alice and Ila is forced. This book should have ended on page 252. I don’t buy for a second that they could’ve escaped that house and moved on so happily. Maybe I’m pessimistic, but trauma isn’t so easily erased and radicalism can’t be so quickly undone. These two were doomed from the start. It was just too quickly wrapped up. I felt like Alison was just too fond of them to give them the ending they should have had.

 

I also think that the social commentary became too much at times. I understood the point was that all oppression is similar, but it was just a bit too much to comprehend.

That said, I will never read this book again, but I would completely recommend it. It is not for the faint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, and Fire/Fire injury

gersonswhistle's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Transphobia, Blood, and Antisemitism