Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Tell Me I'm Worthless

If you think the cover and title of Tell Me I’m Worthless are out there (which in fairness they are a little bit) strap in and be prepared for the most terrifyingly haunting and shocking read of your life. TMIW is nasty, vile, graphic and truly brutal yet also wildly intelligent and completely consuming. Be prepared for this book to chew you up and spit you out, leaving you cast aside as sloppy shattered detritus.

I feel this is a book best to be experienced blind to allow its repulsive nature swarm and consume you without any preconceptions so I won't go heavily into the plot. However, in saying that this book comes with the trigger warnings of all trigger warnings. It is a haunted house story which forcefully weaves trauma, violence, horror and sexual assault with the themes of fascism, capitalism and TERFism.

In all honesty, I felt completely lost and eviscerated for the majority of the book's pages. Rumfitt's talent lies in the ability to completely repulse and terrify you to the point that it gets too much and you can handle no more while simultaneously leaving you infatuated and unable to leave any page unread. Alison's unapologetic social commentary, striking imagery and bewitching prose were so jarringly effective that on each page I was left with something else to question in my exhaustion.

I think too often it is said by book reviewers, myself included, that books are like nothing we've ever read before but with TMIW it can be said with complete honesty. Its visceral annihilating nature and menacing imagery will long torment me. The only comparison I can make is that it's like if Shirley Jackson and Carmen Maria Machado had a beautiful yet psychopathic love child.

A harrowing, propulsive and relentless read which will continue to haunt long after that final page is read.

Content Warnings

roseltov's review

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated

Fucking hell.

Content Warnings

blackcatkai's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

4.5/5☆~ CW: blood, body horror, gore, violence, transphobia, antisemitism, trauma, alcohol & drug use, rape, fascism, self-harm, suicide, death, mentions of incel rhetoric & the gender critical movement as a whole.

Now, i will admit, I am bad at understanding what satire is & isn't. I know it usually includes things being amped up to the nth degree, and this book definitely does that! i've seen a couple places say this is darkly humourous, but that aspect didn't hit me. Maybe the bits i just found weird & off-putting (in a good way) were oddly funny to others? very possibly.

overall, this one hit me in the heart a LOT. it's a book about fascism and trauma and it uses those real life things to tell a haunted house story. the house is fascism, and it's absolutely insidious. Tell Me I'm Worthless goes overboard with the horror to show how deeply ingrained fascism and hatred are in our culture, specifically England, but honestly, here in the US as well. How trauma and different life experiences can thrust you into being so so susceptible to fascist/right wing ideals & conspiracies. how even those who may be allies or in certain groups themselves can still fall victim to these ideologies. because its in the very soil, the very essence, of our cultures. and that's terrifying in so many ways.

there were definitely a few moments that felt like they could've been shorter, but overall, the experience was visceral. a lot, if not most, of right wing/fascist rhetoric is inherently transphobic, antisemetic, sexist, and all around gruesome & upsetting, in our very real lives, especially online where people can hide behind a screen. Rumfitt puts that all over this work, so it's very good to be aware of the especially before diving in.

There's a content warning at the beginning of the book that I give high props to Rumfitt for. More books should do that. Please do take those seriously here, they are explicit and serious on every page and it's best to be aware and take care.

okay i think that's enough of a ramble review. basically, i liked this, and i am definitely picking up more of her work in the future!!

Content Warnings