Scan barcode
A review by jesshindes
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
5.0
This is another horror and it does what I love horror to do, i.e. explore the human condition. It's a haunted house novel, except for the house is also England, and what it's haunted by is fascism. It's a story about Alice, who is a trans woman, and Ila, who is - or was - her best friend, until a day three years ago when they went into the house together along with their other friend Hannah, and only the pair of them came out. They both remember perfectly the trauma visited upon them. They both remember it differently. And both of them are still in Brighton, where they were back then, and they can hear the house calling them back.
Like my last read, I'd only recommend it if you have a strong stomach: it includes graphic scenes of sexual assault as well as homophobia, transphobia, body horror, and suicide. BUT, I thought it was absolutely banging. It's the first book I've read that really gets at the specific, grim feeling that I increasingly associate with British politics, with what it feels like to be living in a country that feels like it's slipping precipitously rightward, where the public discourse is getting more and more aggressive. That pit-of-your stomach feeling that you get when you log onto Twitter and see Keir Starmer suggesting that minority rights should be dependent on majority assent? When you see a British woman spouting hate with a row of Australian neo-Nazis behind her? That's the nastiness that this novel is probing.
One of the cover quotes on my edition describes this novel as 'punk' and I think that's a good adjective for it. It's not one of those beautifully crafted little gem-type novels; although there's a clear structure driving the central narrative forward, it has an unruly quality. It wanders off on tangents, it shifts tenses and perspecgives, it gives you side stories and histories and it hops back and forward in time. There are at least two long stream-of-consciousness passages that are more like prose poetry than anything else, and one scene told from two perspectives in parallel (I actually loved this bit, although it's one of the most horrible in the book). But I liked that about it: I felt like Rumfitt was very clear about what she wanted to say and it was kind of an 'any-means-necessary' approach to saying it.
I will say that I don't think I'm quite as cynical as this novel is, yet - there were just a few bits of it that I was reluctant to accept - but then that's horror, isn't it, showing you the dark lens on things. And I certainly didn't feel like it was that far off. Anyway. I absolutely want to emphasise the warnings because this book isn't for everyone, but I would recommend it if you're up for something really nasty and dark. It feels to me like something that will be on a university syllabus in 50 years time for people trying to figure out our specific historical moment.
Like my last read, I'd only recommend it if you have a strong stomach: it includes graphic scenes of sexual assault as well as homophobia, transphobia, body horror, and suicide. BUT, I thought it was absolutely banging. It's the first book I've read that really gets at the specific, grim feeling that I increasingly associate with British politics, with what it feels like to be living in a country that feels like it's slipping precipitously rightward, where the public discourse is getting more and more aggressive. That pit-of-your stomach feeling that you get when you log onto Twitter and see Keir Starmer suggesting that minority rights should be dependent on majority assent? When you see a British woman spouting hate with a row of Australian neo-Nazis behind her? That's the nastiness that this novel is probing.
One of the cover quotes on my edition describes this novel as 'punk' and I think that's a good adjective for it. It's not one of those beautifully crafted little gem-type novels; although there's a clear structure driving the central narrative forward, it has an unruly quality. It wanders off on tangents, it shifts tenses and perspecgives, it gives you side stories and histories and it hops back and forward in time. There are at least two long stream-of-consciousness passages that are more like prose poetry than anything else, and one scene told from two perspectives in parallel (I actually loved this bit, although it's one of the most horrible in the book). But I liked that about it: I felt like Rumfitt was very clear about what she wanted to say and it was kind of an 'any-means-necessary' approach to saying it.
I will say that I don't think I'm quite as cynical as this novel is, yet - there were just a few bits of it that I was reluctant to accept - but then that's horror, isn't it, showing you the dark lens on things. And I certainly didn't feel like it was that far off. Anyway. I absolutely want to emphasise the warnings because this book isn't for everyone, but I would recommend it if you're up for something really nasty and dark. It feels to me like something that will be on a university syllabus in 50 years time for people trying to figure out our specific historical moment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Hate crime