Wavered between not rating this and giving it one star BUT i didn't enjoy any of this. It's very full of political issues and I understand the author is a trans-woman BUT I don't understand how so many parts of this book went into one book & actually called itself a novel. It is horrific so I accept that it fits the horror genre but I don't think I'll be coming back to check out this author again.

this is probably the most hateful, fascist book i ever had the displeasure of reading. and i mean that in the way morticia gomez would call a room absolutely dreadful. some may say this book is sheer shock factor but thats the point i believe, its supposed to make you as uncomfortable as possible because this is an uncomfortable world and Rumfitt takes that uncomfortable, hateful, violent world and turns it into a fascist house in a fascist book. but the book itself is not a fascist it simply is corrupted by the house that is in it like everything else is corrupted and tainted by the violence and the hate. safe to say this was a good book to go into 2025 with, made me immensely uncomfortable which is good because is it truly a horror book if it doesnt make you as uncomfortable as possible? and are you truly a horror fan if you do not seek out discomfort by any means necessary? TRIGGER WARNINGS: as i said this is an uncomfortable book, immense transphobia on every other page, racism, antisemitism, r*pe (abstract and graphic), self-harm and suicide. While i recommend this book i do not recommend to anyone faint of heart, I'm in a horror class and have been indulging in the arts since i was six but even this book had me needing to put it down for a tad

**I was provided an electronic ARC through NetGalley.**

Tell Me I'm Worthless is Alison Rumfitt's literary horror debut. Readers follow Alice, a trans woman, and Ila, a brown Jewish lesbian, as they navigate the horrors brought to them by life and their time at the haunted house, Albion. This book is inherently a social commentary on trauma and fascism.

The author is good enough to include a content warning at the beginning of the book; please heed the warning. None of the warnings are overstated.

At first, I was pleased with the introduction of the House as a character and intrigued by the prologue. As other reviewers have noted, the writing tends to degrade some shortly after the first quarter of the book. This does appear deliberate as it corresponds to degradation in Alice and Ila's respective mental states. However, I was very much not a fan of the partial stream of consciousness style of writing. The violence and graphic sexual content appeared to be present more for shock and horror value rather than making any amount of true impact.

I am a fan of horror as a vehicle for social commentary. In my opinion, there was no subtlety or nuance to this writing. This was a social commentary first and foremost with horror added in after to appall and disgust. This style of literary horror is not for me, regardless of whether I agreed with the author's messaging, I was unable to enjoy the book due to the style in which it was written.

I am unsure who to recommend this book to as it is so out of my zone, but I see there are positive reviews which makes me hopeful it will find its target audience.