A disturbing, looping, sometimes subtle and sometimes a little heavy-handed, Tell Me I’m Worthless is a work of trauma and fascism, told through a horror story which intersects with transphobia and racism. It’s violent and dark. It’s also wildly compelling. This is Rumfitt’s debut novel and it’s so impressive with the way it twists and turns.

Alice is a trans woman, haunted by her past and haunted specifically by the events of a night at a place known simply as the House. Ila is a TERF, formerly friends and sometimes lovers with Alice, having turned to being a gender critical activist after the events of the night at the House. Slowly, as the story progresses, it’s revealed they both have differing memories of what happened, but they both remember they left their friend Hannah there and they’re both haunted by the House.

It’s a sharp critique of British society, and how it’s been overrun with right-wing ideology (not to say other parts of the West aren’t also mired in this, but this was very rooted in the rise of British right-wing ideology). I was riveted and repulsed in turns. Rumfitt demands you look at yourself and sit with your biases. It’s uncomfortable but also really great.

If this book stuck to the actual story and didn't continue to go off on political and social rants, it could've been a very short, really good story. I have no problem admitting I may not be the most well informed person on political issues in the UK and Trans awareness and acceptance, but I felt like the author was screaming at the reader to understand her point of view and her anger.

Run on sentences, page long angry paragraphs, were all mixed in between the pages of a pretty decent horror story complete with supernatural spookiness. I have a pretty open mind and a willingness to learn and grow in my opinions. But, this was a very advanced argument that I had little knowledge of smacking me in the face. This was not a beginner's understanding of these issues. These were long fought issues that caused this author to rage against the UK system and I was lost in its tornado-like storm.

The actual story I would probably give 4.5⭐️. But with the anger filled rants that only barely touched on the issues in the real story (Trans identity and acceptance, finding your own power and accepting yourself and your differences,etc) I give this 3⭐️.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 rounded up because some of the other low reviews here REALLY smell of transphobia. Honestly this book wasn't for me, it wasn't, but I can appreciate the heart of it regardless of that. The writing was lyrical and devastating and it did speak to me as a trans person a lot.

Oh, what to say about this book? Well, it’s transgressive. Or at least, it’s got the trans part down. I’m yet to read a trans author who wrote about something else. And TOR seems to love it; if publishing was prom, TOR would be a shoo-in for “most likely to prove their woke street cred” award.
For me, the woke cred largely irrelevant. Personally, I look to TOR for latest in exciting science fiction, and, lately, horror. But, much like the case with this book, oftentimes the Message tends to override the story.
And mind you, it’s difficult to write a less than glowing review of a trans-centric book by a trans author in this day and age and not get accused of transphobia (it’s always easier to throw dirt than take criticism) but that simply isn’t the case here. In fact, the book had a lot of potential and a conceptually fascinating haunted house. It just all got buried under The Message (fascism and transphobia are evil) so thoroughly, that only glimpses of the story managed to peak out.
And yes, of course, fascism and transphobia are evil, and yes, both are on the rise as the world seems so steadily going to doodoo all around. And yes, attention must be paid and awareness/representation must be raised. And yes, there is a way to do it in speculative fiction, but not like this. It ought to be subtler, cleverer.
The way the original Candyman and not Peele’s remake handled it. But then again, Peele is a stranger to subtlety when it comes to horror. Odd since he was so good at it in comedy.
Anyway, back to the book. There is a haunted house there, creepy AF. There’s a trio of trans/transadjacent protagonists that spend time there. Most of the book is concentrated on the trio’s personal connections, which are…well, messy would be an understatement.
The book is in-your-face visceral, rapey, definitely rated R, perhaps even NC-17, and while I’m not at all a prude, I found its viscerality absolutely disgusting (like, let’s wow the reader with how far we can push it) disgusting, disturbing, and sometimes just gross.
That, just in case it requires mentioning, isn’t because of any trans related things, it’s just the way the author writes. Deliberately, it seems.
So yeah, didn’t really work for me. Far be it for me to tell a book it’s worthless, but it certainly wasn’t worth my time. Thanks Netgalley.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers/author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

My actual rating is a 4.5. This book was a lot more then what I was expecting. It made me think more then I was ready to. Who are we all really? You are confronted with scenarios and people that make you uncomfortable but it’s the nature of the world. You go in for a haunted house book and receive so much more. This is a book about trauma, acceptance, and love.

In the root of it all is fascism and how it rots everything around it. You are confronted with gender and sexuality and what that really means. What does it mean to be a woman? Or a man? What does it mean to be queer? There is self hatred and erasure, racism, transphobia, homophobia, antisemitism, misogyny, and other angry thoughts that might worm it’s way into a person’s head. Thoughts you thought you might have locked away.

Three best friends went into an abandoned house and only 2 came out. It was supposed to be an adventure. Something to say they were brave before they went their separate ways. Alice and Ila are forever changed from their time in the House. It has spread its poison into their minds and into their bodies. They become fractions of who they were. At the core, one of them is fighting to be themselves, while the other is fighting to be something they aren’t.

I can’t help but add I loved all the disgusting imagery in the book. There are plenty of moments my jaw dropped open from the insanity. There are also moments between characters that made me cringe. The back and forth between Alice and Ila was a lot sometimes but I felt like it was very necessary for their characters. They are just two very disturbed people doing disturbed things.

I loved all the symbolism in this book. This is a powerful and raw read with an evil haunted house in the background. Two very different girls are haunted by themselves just as much as they are haunted by what is around them. There is evil in the world as much as the evil in the House. I’m super interested to see what else this author has in store for us after this debut.

After hearing so many positive things about this novel, I went in with high expectations that were exceeded tenfold. Tell Me I'm Worthless is a harrowing and promising debut from Alison Rumfit. And I'll be haunted by this novel for days to come. Tell Me I'm Worrthless manages to elevate the horror genre, and shows that true horror lies within real-world issues like trauma and fascism. A must-read for horror and literary fiction lovers alike!

Oh lordddddd this one was creepy as hell. Although I didn't think it was too "original" I still felt super freaked out with this haunted house!

Alice, Ila, and Hannah all spend a night in an abandoned house... and real horrors occur... only two girls make it out alive, both haunted by the horrifying acts done that night. Alice is haunted by what happened that night, she was attacked by Ila... yet Ila claims Alice attacked her.. both of them having different memories of what happened. Alice wants nothing to do with Ila or the House but Ila insists they return and now both of them must face the old trauma and horrors if they want to return to Hannah. This was a complex read, it was brutal and definitely does not shy away from the heavy topics of racism, antisemitism, trans-phobia, rape, self-harm, and suicide. Suffice to say, even though I read the trigger warnings, I was overwhelmed by just how graphic and visceral some of the stuff that was in this book.The story is kind of strange too, you get various POVS: from Alice, Ila, Hannah, and even the House. It’s part horror story part haunting. its violent and it definitely makes you feel a bit uneasy.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

Incredible gut wrenching, chilling story! This will become one of my favorite books to recommend because it is so chilling and weird and disturbing but with prose that is so real and shifty that makes it hyper real and wrong.

(I received a copy of Tell Me I’m Worthless from NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review)
Let me just start this review the same way the author, Alison Rumfitt, starts her debut novel: with some (very necessary) trigger warnings:
This book is about trauma and fascism (…) In dealing with those topics, the novel covers racism, antisemitism, transphobia, rape (both in abstract and graphic ways), self-harm and suicide.
I, therefore, know that I went in with all the knowledge needed to withstand what was supposedly coming; but I was wrong.
I will try to be as clear as possible, but cannot guarantee anything. This novel is, as many stories are, separated into different points of view, including the House itself. But, at the same time, it is also divided into two big categories. For clarity’s sake, let’s call them the Horror Story and the Terrifying Story.
The Horror Story narrates the whereabouts of a haunted house, Albion, and everything related to it, ghosts of the past and the present included. The House’s point of view is, in my opinion, the best one in the novel, a creepy and visceral one. The way it traps its victims is effective and tragic, and one quickly understands that why so many people are naming Shirley Jackson in their reviews. Inside the Horror Story we also have a single glimpse into Hannah’s point of view and her records of the night when three girls entered a house and Hell broke loose.
Alice and Ila’s points of view also start as the Horror Story, but quickly transform into the Terrifying one, a monologue where even punctuation is out of breath, ideas, truth bombs, criticism, allegories, all exploding at the same time while the Horror Story tries to keep on but simply can’t. This book is about trauma and fascism, and fascism is printed in every single page, staring at you, poking at you, impossible not to see, to feel, the only moments when it disappears being the truly graphic violent scenes, the ones that make you feel uneasy and maybe skip a couple of lines. And then, there it is again! And this time is addressing YOU, all capital letters, just in case YOU needed and explanation of what YOU just read, just in case YOU couldn’t understand the metaphors, the trauma, the discourse.
It truly is a pity that the Terrifying Story both eats and corners the Horror Story, because so much could have been said with fewer words and a lot less monologuing. Alison Rumfitt shows she has a skilled writing style when she is not trampling herself with too many words, and her Horror scenes were absolutely fantastic, so I will definitely check with her again when she writes something new. Second opportunities after a traumatic experience and all that.

I don’t think this is a bad book it’s just not for me. The of sexual assault were too graphic for me to finish this book. I do think it’s important to fight transphobia and fascism in many different ways (in person, online, through literature, etc) and this book will serve this purpose.