A review by thisismybooknook
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

Edited to add: this could have been much better as a short story. The Hannah chapter was better written. 

Legitimately, this book was not for me. Now, there are trigger warnings from Rumfitt at the beginning of this book, however I don't feel like they warn enough, in my opinion. I've read books that have depictions of assault, sexual assault, and other things in them... but this was essentially trauma porn: rape, transphobia, and wildly misogynistic. It left me extremely uncomfortable, as the reader, and I forced myself to finish it. It is very derogatory, hate-filled, and feels like a psychotic episode. Trigger warnings for everything you can imagine. 
Now, I'm not a writer, but I feel like this book lacked an editor. There were paragraphs that spanned four pages, sentences that were outrageously long, and portions that repeated the same thought over and over again. I counted the word political in one sentence 11 times. 
If Rumfitt's goal was to make the reader insanely uncomfortable, she did her job. I understand that this is a book about privilege, fascism, and capitalism... but maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it. I just want to completely erase this from my memory. 
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