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A review by jrharris
Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really had to sit with this for a minute before I felt like I could respectfully review this book.
The summary of this book basically explains it as a haunted house story about three friends who enter it but only two come out. But it is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT.
First off, the author took the time to list trigger warnings at the beginning of this book. With good reason. There were multiple sexual assault scenes. However, there was also a warning for fascism. And that is really what this book is about. This is possibly one of the most unique and complex haunted house stories i’ve read. To have a house basically turn people into the worst version of themselves is fascinating. The descriptions of the house and how it uses its space to build fear and horror is incredible. There is definitely a fair amount of body horror in this. However, a lot of the discomfort comes from the dialogue of the characters. The transphobia and overall hate towards specific people left me with a very uneasy, sick feeling. I will say there were MANY parts that were very hard to read. It leaves you feeling very uncomfortable which does its job of being a horror book.
When it comes to the characters, the author spends a lot of time developing Alice and Ila. They have a lot of trauma due to the house and each other. Alice is a trans woman and Ila is a cis-woman of color who exhibits transphobic behavior after escaping the house the first time. They are both very broken people and the influence of the house continues to linger on them. Their interactions together in the book were upsetting but it’s part of the journey when reading this story. Overall, the book is very bleak due to the themes. Because of the house’s ability to influence people, whether the house still stands or not, its presence continues to impact the lives of people.
While this book is very unique, it’s not perfect for me. I found the writing style a little hard to focus on sometimes. There were many points where the characters or even the house itself went into long tangents that i didn’t always feel were necessary to the plot. That being said, this still packed a punch for me. I think this was a fascinating read but I would definitely read the trigger warnings before going into this.
Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC of this.
The summary of this book basically explains it as a haunted house story about three friends who enter it but only two come out. But it is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT.
First off, the author took the time to list trigger warnings at the beginning of this book. With good reason. There were multiple sexual assault scenes. However, there was also a warning for fascism. And that is really what this book is about. This is possibly one of the most unique and complex haunted house stories i’ve read. To have a house basically turn people into the worst version of themselves is fascinating. The descriptions of the house and how it uses its space to build fear and horror is incredible. There is definitely a fair amount of body horror in this. However, a lot of the discomfort comes from the dialogue of the characters. The transphobia and overall hate towards specific people left me with a very uneasy, sick feeling. I will say there were MANY parts that were very hard to read. It leaves you feeling very uncomfortable which does its job of being a horror book.
When it comes to the characters, the author spends a lot of time developing Alice and Ila. They have a lot of trauma due to the house and each other. Alice is a trans woman and Ila is a cis-woman of color who exhibits transphobic behavior after escaping the house the first time. They are both very broken people and the influence of the house continues to linger on them. Their interactions together in the book were upsetting but it’s part of the journey when reading this story. Overall, the book is very bleak due to the themes. Because of the house’s ability to influence people, whether the house still stands or not, its presence continues to impact the lives of people.
While this book is very unique, it’s not perfect for me. I found the writing style a little hard to focus on sometimes. There were many points where the characters or even the house itself went into long tangents that i didn’t always feel were necessary to the plot. That being said, this still packed a punch for me. I think this was a fascinating read but I would definitely read the trigger warnings before going into this.
Thank you to Netgalley for the digital ARC of this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Rape, and Transphobia