I DNF'd about halfway, it just wasn't for me. I found the writing well done and the story idea was very intriguing but at the halfway mark I still had not gotten any information really on the "haunted house" part of the story and this just wasn't what I wanted it to be.

First, strong trigger warner: this book is really hard to read. It's graphic, cruel, and unrelenting. I'm quite tough, with a high tolerance for unpleasantness, but honestly, I struggled through a lot of it. I would struggle to recommend it for this reason, although I certainly was intrigued by the idea of a house haunted by hate.

Queer horror is one of my favorite genres! I loved the writing style, lyrical and haunting. The plot was fantastic, but the ending fell a LITTLE flat for me.

I have never read anything quite like this book! It is a stand out horror read, it certainly has intelligent and insightful things to say about society, culture, and the trans experience. There were times when the writing style created a bit of confusion, but I think that style actually fit the story that was being told, so it won me over in the end!

This unfortunately was not as good as I had thought it would be...

The writing style was not gripping or in my opinion well-written, mostly this caused it to be rather uninteresting for my liking. I was caught more so skimming through the read than focusing on it.

Very disheartening considering I had really high hopes for this one, the synopsis was really calling to me but sadly did not pull through.

I wanted to read this because I want to actively support trans women and their stories, even the ones that make me uncomfortable. This one, though, went beyond uncomfortable for me and I couldn't stand to keep reading. I hope it finds its audience and the right people who need this book find it, but that is absolutely not me.

I wasn't expecting anything specific from this book, but there were some things I was hoping for based on what I'd heard: anger, cruelty, weird sex, and to be pretty uncomfortable. All of my hopes were met. On its surface, Tell Me I'm Worthless is about one haunted house and two haunted friends. In fact, almost everything in this book was on the surface, which was one of its successes and one of its failures. The fascist creep is real, and it is terrifying, and in this book, it takes the form of a house (or plot of land), except does it really? It's never quite clear the relationship between the house and fascism, except that they are sometimes one and the same. And while this book is very steeped in the current climate of "the gender wars" in England, it's just as relevant for the United States. More trans horror please!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.

As an avid horror reader, never once have I come across a book that I had to put down because it freaked me out so much that I could not continue reading.
Until this book.
On that principle alone, this book gets 5 stars from me. The representation in this book was also absolutely wonderful, and necessary, and it is one of my favourite "haunting" stories to date.

Wow this book was incredible! This story isn't for the faint of heart and I would suggest reading any trigger warnings before this because it deals with some heavy topics. This story was beautifully written and Allison did such an amazing job telling Alice and Ila's stories.

I’ve had to sit so long with this one. My first reaction upon finishing this was to get as far away as I possibly could from it. But it didn’t really matter how hard I tried because it was inside me now.

Alison Rumfitt is an incredible writer and never before have I read anything so unflinchingly in your face. You’ll want to look away but you just can’t. Or at least I couldn’t. The characters are in turns tragic and misunderstood and terrible and all too human.

Was this incredibly hard to read? Yes. Will I ever read it again? Undecided. But I’m glad I stuck it out because ultimately it was a hauntingly incredible story. And I’ll probably never be able to listen to The Smiths the same way again.

A dark twisted story that keeps you at the edge of seat until the very end. An engrossing horror tale that keeps your mind racing. The story is creepy, unsettling and intense. As a fan of horror story I enjoyed every minute of this journey. The author takes you on an amazing ride and shows us how trauma affects a person’s psyche. The author did a great job writing this horror story and I am definitely a new fan.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was not able to get to this book before it was no longer available. I am so sorry for this. I am rating it three stars since I do have to provide a rating, but providing a neutral rating seems like the best option for the book and author.

This was too scary for me to finish it, but I loved what I could stomach! Haunted house horror meets the real horrors of fascism.

I appreciate receiving this book from Netgalley to Review however upon starting the book and getting about 20 % in I realized this book just wasn't for me.. I did not complete reviews on my other site because I did not think it would be fair to the Author the writing wasn't bad it just wasn't the content for my liking..

Book Review:
Title: Tell Me I'm Worthless
Author: Alison Rumfitt
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/3 stars

This book was marked as "supernatural" at my local library, which grabbed my attention immediately. I'm a sucker for a good ole haunting. I also received this as an arc earlier this year but hadn't yet had the opportunity to read. Let's just say it was definitely a trip. It had its share of truly terrifying parts. I've never quite read anything like it before. Definitely keep an open mind!

Alice and Ila gather up the courage to return to a haunted house that they spent the night in three years ago. Their lives forever changed that night, and they both have many questions that they feel they need answered from the things they saw and experienced. This book was a trip! Some of the extremely eerie moments will stick with me for a while!

Thank you, @netgalley and @tornightfire, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Published: January 17th, 2023

While this story started as, what I had assumed, to be just a story revolving around a haunted house involving the disappearance of one of three friends that ventured into into it, it evolved into so much more. Tell Me I'm Worthless was a violent horror story on the surface, but holds so much more under that. Tackling tough issues like fascism and being trans, this book will intentionally make you uncomfortable and upset while terrifying you at the same time.

Make sure you check through warnings or go in when you are in a good mental headspace if you are part of the queer community as the treatment, threats, and verbiage that is thrown at one of the characters could be triggering. This is not a light read, and definitely not a "fun" seasonal read. The social commentary is thick, but well done.

This was an incredibly quick read that left me not just unsettled, but also leaving the lights on afterwards.

I LOVED this book, we have already purchased it for our library and it continues to be a hit. The way the story is told leaves you wanting more.

This was such a unique take on the haunted house dark gothic and I enjoyed it thoroughly! I’m excited to read more by this author in the future!

DNF @ 51%

I'm applauding myself a little for getting this far before I decided to look up spoilers and call it a day. While this book will certainly have its audience, that audience isn't me. Not only do I think the writing is mediocre (and a very clear imitation of Shirley Jackson that falls short), but the mass amounts of hate in this book are nausea-inducing, even for someone, like me, who doesn't have triggers for these particular things.

Content-specific issues I had:

- massive amounts of anti-Semitism (VERY hateful language, numerous cruel Holocaust references, terrible treatment of a Jewish side character)

- how racist Alice is and has been in the past

- the portrayal of a closeted trans man as a very vocal and well-known TERF

- how heavy-handed the usage of rape as a plot device is (it is literally referenced and/or depicted constantly!)

As an aside, while I certainly don't feel like it's fair to hold it against a trans author for writing graphic transphobia, I have never read such gratuitous, over-the-top transphobia in any other book as this one. There's a scene in particular where a forum post/transphobic fantasy is included that is so long-winded and repetitive and cruel that I finally had to tune out the audiobook altogether until it was over.

I had tremendously high hopes for this book and author, and was genuinely banking on having a new favorite of the year here, but every single page has been an utter and complete disappointment and I can't currently say I have any desire to read future works by Rumfitt.

Thank you to the publisher and LibroFM for the audio review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.