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abandonedquests 's review for:
Tell Me I'm Worthless
by Alison Rumfitt
Tell Me I’m Worthless is an astonishingly confident, powerful, deeply dark horror novel about self-identity, trauma, and what feels like the inevitability of the world’s growing fascism.
On the surface, this is the story of three women who went into a haunted house, and the two women who came out. Alice is a transwoman who seems to hate herself, and Ila is a TERF who seems to hate the world. The House is deeply evil.
Reading Alison Rumfitt’s debut novel is an experience: it’s difficult, because it’s brimming with so much intelligence and compassion for its characters, while using slurs (and self-hatred) and violence (including sexual violence and self-harm) authentically to bludgeon, disgust, and break down the reader. The book is vicious, weird, experimental and constantly surprising.
At times I had to put it down and just breathe for a bit, but I also completely enjoyed reading it — just for the pleasure of how well Rumfitt could put me into another person’s head, and the way she used language.
Is it strange that I found this book also a bit hopeful? That’s something I haven’t seen in reviews, but for me it was there.
I recommend this for folks who love dark, literary social horror that plays with form and has something to say, and for horror readers who are interested in the trans experience. Please check out the content warnings on this book first: it’s a rough one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy of this book.
On the surface, this is the story of three women who went into a haunted house, and the two women who came out. Alice is a transwoman who seems to hate herself, and Ila is a TERF who seems to hate the world. The House is deeply evil.
Reading Alison Rumfitt’s debut novel is an experience: it’s difficult, because it’s brimming with so much intelligence and compassion for its characters, while using slurs (and self-hatred) and violence (including sexual violence and self-harm) authentically to bludgeon, disgust, and break down the reader. The book is vicious, weird, experimental and constantly surprising.
At times I had to put it down and just breathe for a bit, but I also completely enjoyed reading it — just for the pleasure of how well Rumfitt could put me into another person’s head, and the way she used language.
Is it strange that I found this book also a bit hopeful? That’s something I haven’t seen in reviews, but for me it was there.
I recommend this for folks who love dark, literary social horror that plays with form and has something to say, and for horror readers who are interested in the trans experience. Please check out the content warnings on this book first: it’s a rough one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for my review copy of this book.