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lidia7's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Minor: Animal death
my_a's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
oatmilked_'s review
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Transphobia
monsterofidaho's review
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and War
amobrien's review
- 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
3.75
Tell Me I'm Worthless is a dark literary horror about trauma and fascism. The story was communicated in a way that made it feel like a fever dream, which only added to the unsettling nature.
There is incredibly heavy content in this book, please check warnings before reading.
Graphic: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Antisemitism, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
studydniowka's review
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
thebobolink's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
emimli's review
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
0.5
Things I liked:
- A very original twist on the haunted house trope that explores how ideological violence leaves its imprint on people, spaces, and cultures
- Some genuinely horrifying imagery that will stick with me for a while
- Deep explorations of trauma, repression, and the ways in which violent victimization can reshape a person’s perception of reality
- A complex central relationship, wherein both characters love each other as people but hate what the other represents ideologically
Things I hated:
- This book was edgy purely for the sake of being edgy at times, to the point where it became tedious; Rumfitt could not go two lines without having a ~welcome 2 my twisted mind~ moment
- The blurb refers to this book as "darkly funny" but there was not a single ounce of humour anywhere in here. What am I supposed to be laughing at? Violent anti-Semitism? Graphic sexual assault? Fuck off
- The political commentary was extremely heavy-handed, to the point where it almost seemed intentionally corny, as if the book was mocking its own denunciation of fascism, which definitely isn't a good look
- The two main characters are horrible fucking people. One is a TERF and one is a straight-up neo-Nazi. Okay, fine. Unlikeable characters can make for interesting stories. Yet the book pushes you to sympathize with them, particularly the neo-Nazi. No. I will not sympathize with them. They both fucking suck and I hate them
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- Hannah?????? What the fuck was the point of her death and subsequent imprisonment in the house?? For a book that beats you over the head at every turn with the messages it wants you to internalize, it sure did lack any explanation whatsoever for Hannah’s role in the story. “White women are symbols” is repeated several times throughout the book and I presume that this is somehow related to Hannah’s fate, but I could not for the life of me tell you how. Like yes it applies in a literal sense to Hannah (*shudder*) but what is it supposed to mean in relation to the broader themes of the book???
- The book’s historical engagement with the topic of fascism is strangely limited to WW2, even though it alludes to ancient Britain (Albion) being some kind of source of fascism and fascism-adjacent beliefs. Soooo what happened in the years between Albion and WW2? Fascism didn’t emerge out of a vacuum, fully formed in the 1930s - it was built on the foundations of existing ideologies. So where is the discussion about the ideologies that fascism grew out of? Imperialism, colonization, the ideological construction of whiteness, of masculinity, etc.? There was no clear connection between the ancient source of the house’s power and the fascist ideology that haunts it, because the author never attempts to draw one. She just jumps from ~the vaguely ancient times~ to WW2 without linking anything together.
Overall, the message of this book can be succinctly summarized as “fascism bad.” Which yes, that’s absolutely true, but I already knew that. While this book has a lot to offer to the horror genre, it adds nothing new or interesting to political conversation. And it’s weird efforts to make me sympathize with its anti-Semitic main character pissed me the fuck off.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
chorleychalk's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt
awaywiththebooks's review
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt