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

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt felt like two very different novels that came crashing together in a strange, but somehow compelling fashion. First, this novel has a lot of extremely vulgar scenes from gore and violence, to derogatory slurs and sexual content. Based on the description of the book (note: not the reviews or summaries) on the internet and back of the book, I wasn’t expecting that. This book also takes on a litany of heavy topics that are hard to digest on their own, nevermind all combined into one novel, and sometimes even one scene. I think this book is extremely triggering, and I say that as someone who isn’t easily offended by content in books no matter how graphic. I will say that I think it was done in a complex and thought provoking manner, especially concerning the points the book made about the rights of transgender individuals. That being said, I think that the characters were interesting, though heavily flawed. I loved that there was strong transgender representation, and I do think that while this book was filled with slurs and hateful characters, that was done intentionally to show the connection between outward hate and lack of personal acceptance. As for the horror aspect, this reminded me a lot of the SAW franchise, which I happen to be a pretty big fan of. I will say, however, that the house to me was lacking real motivation for its role in the events that transpired. As a horror novel, this was more graphic and truly haunting than a lot of others I’ve read. It doesn’t hold back (in any capacity) and works hard from the first moment we meet a ghost to freak out the reader to their core. All of that being said, check the trigger warnings (here and on Goodreads or The StoryGraph). If after reading them, you think this book sounds like it might be up your alley, I would say it’s worth checking out, especially if you enjoy graphic haunting horror novels and heated political commentary from both sides of arguments. 
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