Trigger Warnings: Rape, sexual assault, transphobia, homophobia, graphic murder, trauma.

Three years ago, Alice, Ila and Hannah spend the night in a haunted house. Hannah never came out and Alice and Ila both have graphic memories of the other raping them and carving something horrible into their skin. Not healed from this trauma, Alice performs sex work for money, hangs out at parties she doesn’t want to attend, and does drugs she isn’t really into. Meanwhile, Ila is a lesbian TERF activist for womens’ rights and also hasn’t healed from that night. The women must return to the house to exorcise their demons and take on whatever is in the house so what happened to Hannah doesn’t happen to anyone else.

I chose this book because horror, haunted house, and trans rep, but I got way more than I bargained for. There’s a lot of good stuff in this book, but damn if it isn’t hard to get through all the bad stuff. The characters are rich, deep, flawed, and have done some bad things to themselves and each other. They’re forced to confront those things while trying to save their friend, and I appreciated their depth. Heed the warnings, however, because they aren’t light, and they aren’t glossed over. As a sometimes sex-adverse asexual, even the consensual sex scenes and associated language were a bit much for me at times.

I’m glad that I stuck with these characters and didn’t give up on them or their story, and I appreciated the issues that the story shines light on in our society, but I definitely had to follow up this audiobook with something light, and while I do recommend it if you’re not triggered by all the bad things, I’d have something fun and fluffy on had to chase the book with. It comes out January 17 wherever you get your books.

Dark, nasty, horror but so amazing and I mean this all as a compliment, This is a book that is afraid of nothing and deals which such important issues steeped in the trans experience.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was an interesting one. Not really sure what I read, it was intriguing and kept me listening but I'm not sure I enjoyed it? The narrator was great though!

Tell Me I'm Worthless is a dark literary horror about trauma and fascism. The story was communicated in a way that made it feel like a fever dream, which only added to the unsettling nature.

3.75/5

There is incredibly heavy content in this book, please check warnings before reading.

Content Warnings: transphobia, transphobic slurs, homophobic slurs, antisemitism, rape, sexual violence, body horror, self harm, mentions of suicide, hate crime (bombing)

Listened to the audiobook.

I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.

One of the best books I've read in a long while. It kept me on my toes the entire time!

When I receive promotional information from Tor Nightfire, I always read it. With the ARC of TELL ME I'M WORTHLESS, I received a "note from the author," in which it states, and I quote "If you are expecting a conventional horror novel, I believe you are about to f**k around and find out." Them there are fighting words and I was up to the challenge! When my reading schedule fell behind, I opted to request the audio, and Macmillan was kind enough to allow me to download this story so I could listen instead, and what a tale it was!

This is the story of Ila, Alice, Hanna and a house. It's a story of manipulated and/or faulty memory, it's a story about transgender people, it's a story about fascism and most importantly to me, it's the story of a haunted house.

The story and history of transgender people is often a violent one. It's a story about how hatred tears down empathy bit by bit, and makes the entire world a colder place. All of that made for a decent story, but what I was really interested in was the house. In this tale, finally, I read a plausible reason for a house to be haunted, which was impressive. Often it's the denouement of haunted house tales that ruin it for me. The reasons are often stupid and just not believable. In this case, the reason seemed plausible and downright frightening. The only problem is that the house didn't play a big enough part in the story for me.

I appreciate how Splatterpunk is often described as violent and gory with a counter-cultural aspect, but in this case that aspect almost overwhelms the story. I appreciate and recognize racism in all of its ugly and various forms and I recognize that the messages here are important. But as a seasoned horror lover, I just wanted MORE HOUSE.

The narrator, Nicky Endres, is freaking amazing. All kinds of accents and moods, whatever was going on in the story, Nicky brought it to life and did it with panache. I especially enjoyed the narrations by the house and the voicing she used for that. (In fact, those portions were my absolute favorites, not just for the narration, but for how the house was presented and its story told.)

As you may have guessed by now, this is a transgressive book. It's violent, at times gory and at all times, it's in your face. As such, there are trigger warnings and if you do experience triggers you might want to read those first. Trauma and fascism are the main things this book addresses, as stated by the author herself at the beginning, so please DO check those warnings first.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I loved the references to other books, most especially THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. Since it's among my all time favorites, I love when other authors give it a shout out and that happens quite often here.

Overall, this is a solid debut effort with a social message. It's also an awesome haunted house tale, albeit one that I wanted to read more about. How about it, Alison? Let's f**k around and find out!

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Sign me up for whatever Alison Rumfitt does next, because I think I got in on the ground floor of an author to watch!

*Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and the author for the ARCS which were provided in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

I'm supportive of people reclaiming their trauma, packaging it in fiction so that it can be fought or shattered or escaped. Personally, I don't like reading about sexual violence against queer people, particularly not when it's perpetuated by other queer people. That's not to say that all queer stories should be happy or should not have depictions of trauma, but this story in particular is so much pain and no joy. There are slurs and violent words and rape and dismissal and a crudeness to how queer bodies are described. Yes, it calls out racism and fascism and discusses the very particular brand of prejudice that thrives in the UK, but the overall tone was just... Too bleak for me.

I really appreciated this book providing an honest ownvoices commentary on the experience of being trans in this current culture. As a cis reader, the author was able to help put myself in the shoes of a trans person.

As for the horror elements, I was little underwhelmed. The horror story didn't really start until halfway through the novel and I wish it had been woven more seamlessly into the novel. The first half read more like content fiction which is not a genre I would typically read.

In terms of tone, this was understandingly serious and depressing. I appreciate the importance of this narrative even though it did not completely meet my personal tastes. There is a lot of explicit language surrounding sex anatomy which was often uncomfortable to read. I liked the book as a piece of trans fiction, but the horror elements did not entirely work for me.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Never have I thought I would enjoy a book so much — a haunting? An allegory for fascism? Unlikeable characters and paranormal encounters? Sign me up! I enjoyed reading this book — the opening chapters blew my mind — but about 2/3 in, the book began to feel a bit heavy handed. I know that it was doing what it set out to do, and I know that I am the book's target audience, but I just found it lacking in that charming subtlety that would have made the book truly haunting. I liked it, and I could see myself recommending it, but I didn't love it as I wanted to.

Thank you NetGalley for the free eARC and audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the book, Tell Me I'm Worthless, and I also hate it. It's Shirley Jackson meets NK Jemisin meets Anthony Doerr-- meets the headlines and bigotry of the western world-- all wrapped up in a greusome horror story. I was disgusted and enthralled. I will definitely revisit this book soon.

I was looking so forward to reading this book but unfortunately it wasn’t my cup of tea. Besides the graphic descriptions they were all the things that bothered me about the book although I did like the part of the book where the girls were in the haunted house and OMG what a humongous house! I didn’t find it as terrifying as other people are claiming also a lot of people are saying this is commentary on the UK and how the UK is changing in their reactions or the way they treat transsexuals are non-binary people, I have read many books on how the UK and America treat the people Who are victimized by the old fashion way of thinking but when I read a haunted house book I wanted to be about the haunted house and not some other banner waving message. I did like the book I love Hanna and felt bad for her but most of the book was just a big disappointment. I received this book from NetGalley in the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I really struggled with this one. Much of it was hard to understand for me. Sometimes it felt like there was inclusion of a lot sex that just didn’t seem relevant.

I can appreciate it bringing up discussion of transphobia and a lot of political issues that are present. But this book was just so dark and hard to get through at times.

I’m glad there were trigger warnings but it was just not for me.

Alison Rumfitt's TELL ME I'M WORTHLESS is a horror novel through and though, but it leans more on metaphorical representation about society, sexuality, and trans-rights rather than what the synopsis provides. The book starts off with a trigger warning, and I'm glad that the author provided that because this book has seriously explicit sexual trauma and it even gave me pause at times. The story focuses on Alice and her struggles with alcohol and drugs, sex and trauma. Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends, Ila and Hannah, and this moment has created significant PTSD for her moving forward. As Alice faces the horrors in that overnight stay, Alice and her friends must come together.

This book is all over the place at times, but I appreciated where the author was going with this book. The messaging is VERY important, but there's also a lot of gratuitous sex that really made no sense to the story. Like literally at times, I was like wtf why is this even happening right now?! I don't know if I really liked this book or not, but the author really brings up serious topics on what it means to be a woman and the struggle that trans-people face daily. This book is a powerful social commentary tool, but go in with the trigger warnings in mind because it's A LOT.

I liked the idea of the story and was engaging to say the least. The characters could have written better. I really liked the plot of the story

This book feels like it was perfectly made for me. It has so many of the tropes and discussions I enjoy in books. Including, but not limited to playing with perception, Angela Carter/fairytales, magical realism, horror imagery, and critiquing political ideology. This sounds like a lot to accomplish in a book but somehow Alison Rumfitt pulls it off impeccably. Overall I loved it's uniqueness and creativity, I truly have never read a story like it before. I'd recommend it for people who are fans of Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield.

This book was a lot. It was a little too political and negative for me. I think this was a really good idea for a book, just not very well executed.

Rep: trans mc, Asian lesbian mc, trans scs
Rating: 3.5 stars

Wow this was a wild ride. This is a very harrowing, intense read, with lots of disturbing scenes and heavy content. The author has content warnings at the beginning, and definitely check them out. This is not a light read at all. It’s very political and deals with fascism, terfs, racism and trauma, among others. It also weaves in fantasy/paranormal elements with a creepy haunted house and a demon(?).

I enjoyed the first half more. After that it started getting more and more disturbing and unsettling. The house’s pov had me confused a lot and left me with unanswered questions. Some of the online anonymous forums and tweets were also a very intense. Some entries were fantasies of trans people but very transphobic, and it just went on and on. It had me sitting there thinking “wow what am I reading. How long will this person go on for??”.

This book is very allegorical. Though it has some fantasy/paranormal elements, you just know that everything else going on has/is happening in real life. Terfs are very much real and say and do some of the things in this book. Same with fascists and racists. It’s all very real world stuff, that’s what makes this even scarier. It doesn’t shy away from the very harsh and ugly truths of the world, instead it brings them to life.

The narrator did a great job.

Overall, it’s a very interesting and unique concept and delivery. It’s very real and horrific.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

Three years ago, three friends spent the night in an abandoned house that was rumored to be haunted. Alice and Illa haven’t spoken to each other since, and neither one has seen Hannah. They both left that night claiming that the other abused them. Little do they know that the history of the house goes well beyond a simple haunting, and that it is doing its best to claim them both for itself.

This was a difficult read. It was much less suspense/thriller and much more graphic violence/obscenity. It honestly felt like the author was attempting to be edgy for the sake of being edgy. I did agree with many of the points the author was trying to make and the social commentary that was included, but it was just so heavy handed and absurd in many places that it was less a commentary and more of a tree branch to the face. The book completely lacked in subtlety or in leading readers to draw conclusions, which greatly detracted from the quality of this read.

The author’s writing style was not for me. She relied on using many short, declarative sentences that just led to a feeling of tediousness when reading them. But then there were also instances where there were so many run-on sentences that I could barely take a breath. The fluctuation between these two drastically different styles was frustrating and off-putting. The dialogue was also quite awful, though thankfully the work didn’t have much of it.

I really liked the idea of this book, but the premise was the only positive thing about it for me. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this read and, if you do choose to read it, pay close attention to the trigger warnings as the whole book consists of graphic violence/abuse. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published in January 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I hate giving books a bad review when they're getting bad ones due to something like transphobia but this book was really difficult to get through for a lot of reasons. The writing would go on and on with run-on sentences that were at times nonsensical with repetitive phrases. The idea itself was such a unique and cool premise, but it felt...performative from a white person, especially with how much racial/colonial roots were tied to the house. It also had moments where the writing itself was racist, which is ironic considering what it was trying to do (which is why I don't think it worked from a white author tbh). It really comes off as torture porn at a certain point and there was way too much Zionist Jerusalem talk. Unfortunately a big no from me.

DNF @40%
I cannot stand the way that this is narrated. The time-line is all
over the place, making it difficult to understand exactly what's going on. Sometimes in horror this is a good thing... in this case it is not. It really adds nothing to the story.
Also just know that every other word is a buzzword for some social justice cause. If that offends you, avoid this book, but also avoid if you're like me and just don't have the energy to sit through a gender studies class in your free time.
On another note, if those things are what you're looking for in a book right now, this is the one for you. Enjoy!