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

challenging dark fast-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

Tell Me I’m Worthless is a dark, angry political horror novel that pulls no punches. Set in the UK, the novel’s three main characters are Alice, a white, twenty-something trans woman, Ila, her former best friend and lover who has become a darling among TERF activists, and the House where something horrible happened to the women and their friend, Hannah. 

I won’t reveal much of the plot, but this is definitely a book whose content warnings you need to review before reading. It has grotesque and graphic imagery and its characters have a lot of harmful beliefs, do a lot of harmful things, and have a lot of harm done to them. Because of this, this book is not for everyone.

“There are some who immediately feel safer, knowing that the House is there, and there are some who do not. For someone to feel safe, another has to be unsafe. And the one who is safe may not even be safe, they may just feel safe, up until the moment they don’t.”

Tell Me I’m Worthless uses the haunted house horror framework as a critique of the rise of fascism in modern-day Britain and how it infects people and makes them harm themselves and one another. It also explores self-loathing within oppressed communities, particularly the trans community, impacted by hateful messaging from those around them. 

This is a debut novel by Rumfitt, and sometimes she tells too much rather than showing. But largely, this is a visceral, pretty brilliant and hard-to-read exploration of the trauma, sexual violence, and oppression wreaked by both individuals and systems. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings