A review by bumble_abi
Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

True splatterpunk, this is not for everyone but YES she's done it again. Tell Me I'm Worthless was one of my favourite books of 2022 and Rumfitt carries that same brand of angry, brashly political horror-satire into her second novel. Takes literally the tongue-in-cheek assertion that transphobes are infected by brainworms, but plays that out against a strange, seemingly doomed relationship between a trans woman and her latest partner (and their respective impregnation and parasite kinks). A slow burner, gradually spirals down into its own depths, managing to implicate the media elite and the upper middle classes and good old fashioned misogyny into a weird explosive climax.

Rumfitt does a lot of cool things narratively with this, inserting herself as a semi-fictional authorial voice from ten years in the future, writing some parts in the second person, and occasionally addressing the reader directly. It's extreme but also full of care, beginning with trigger warnings and including a striking moment halfway through where the reader is encouraged to step away to prepare for what's coming next. It's ambitious in its scope and aims and impressive in how it handles them, but I think a little slow in the execution and may e could have benefitted from one additional ruthless edit.

Still, brilliant horror from one of the most original voices of this generation.
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