Take a photo of a barcode or cover
hedgefruit 's review for:
Tell Me I'm Worthless
by Alison Rumfitt
Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
God. I don't really know where to start with this book? In the hands of a far less capable author, it would have been a mess. Too many ideas, tied together poorly. But something about Rumfitt's style and understanding of what she wanted to say made it all work like a gorgeously constructed machine. While it's less supernatural horror in some places, and more a discussion of very real lived horrors, the tie between the supernatural and the real is executed brilliantly. Fascism as a haunted house that the characters must live in and survive produces a really stunning overarching structure for an incredibly potent bit of storytelling.
I also adored all of the nods and riffs on classic haunted house stories in this -- the way they were used felt less like re-iterating the ideas of previous stories and more like nods to the audience to show that the author both knows the genre she's working with, and is excited to take it down new routes.
Genuinely, I am going to be thinking about this book So Much over the next few days.
God. I don't really know where to start with this book? In the hands of a far less capable author, it would have been a mess. Too many ideas, tied together poorly. But something about Rumfitt's style and understanding of what she wanted to say made it all work like a gorgeously constructed machine. While it's less supernatural horror in some places, and more a discussion of very real lived horrors, the tie between the supernatural and the real is executed brilliantly. Fascism as a haunted house that the characters must live in and survive produces a really stunning overarching structure for an incredibly potent bit of storytelling.
I also adored all of the nods and riffs on classic haunted house stories in this -- the way they were used felt less like re-iterating the ideas of previous stories and more like nods to the audience to show that the author both knows the genre she's working with, and is excited to take it down new routes.
Genuinely, I am going to be thinking about this book So Much over the next few days.