Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Hennes kropp och andra parter: berättelser by Carmen Maria Machado, Carmen Maria Machado

140 reviews

jess_18's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I definitely thought the first short story ‘husband stitch’ was the best, it was upsetting but written very well. Some of the stories went over my head a bit but I think they were all good and told an interesting narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

asainspace's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Clever, horrible short stories. Highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

Moderate: Rape

bashsbooks's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Her Body And Other Parties taps into the horror of being seen as a woman - and emphasizes it with a fine and careful touch of the surreal. Thought-provoking and cerebral, Machado doesn't hold back on displaying the female body in all its gory glory. It is unsettling and horrifying, but in a very real and relatable way - there are no jumpscares here, only uncomfortable truths. Like all short story collections, I liked some of the stories more than others (I enjoyed "Inventory" and "Especially Heinous" the most) though they are all worth a read, as every story in this collection churned in my mind for days after reading it. I can't wait to see what Machado writes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic

-Explicit description of a flu-like illness. -Explicit description of popping pimple-like welts.

jialianyang's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A haunting book about queer women. They are from different backgrounds, telling their experiences in various ways. It is like stepping into another's mind over and over. This is a book where you must be ok with being sad, confused, desiring, hurting, haunted, lost. The women are not the side characters here, but they are also not always in control. Disorienting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Colonisation

kileyglispie's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment

briereader's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship

Minor: Pregnancy

lexihworth's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria

the_harlequin's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Colonisation

blunderw0man's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria

yaoipaddle's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Average rating: 2.6
Read this very spaced out because you may tire of the author's writing style SO FAST. I loved the Husband Stitch when I read it online, so I was excited to read an entire book by the same author. Big mistake. She struggles to end even her most interesting stories well and the sheer amount of sexual content is exhausting when you read the stories back to back.

The Husband Stitch - 5 stars
One of my fave short stories. I had read it twice on its own before finding it in this book.
Every time I read it I have new thoughts on it. All time top story.

Inventory - 4 stars
Very interesting to read after COVID. Short and easy to read.

Mothers - 1 star
Useless. Truly dogshit.

Especially Heinous - 2 stars
IDK if it was supposed to emulate this weird perversion society has with Law & Order SVU. If that was the case it succeeded. It dragged on and the ending was so lame.

Real Women Have Bodies - 3 stars
By this point I was dead tired of the author's writing style. I liked the premise but the ending yet again was a let down.

Eight Bites - 2 stars
I felt nothing about this. The commentary was shallow.

The Resident - 1 star
This took me so long to read because I barely wanted to get through this crap story. I was exhausted by the author's writing style and I found the main character loathsome. I could write a better feminist short story in high school than 'The Resident'.

Difficult at Parties - 3 stars
I will reread this one at a later time. I think it was just OK. I am so tired of the author though that I don't think I could appreciate this story as much as I would on a reread in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Stalking