Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

8 reviews

mariaologist's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.75

The first batch of stories (I think it’s the same characters stretched out over different titles)  are brilliant, empowering, change-provoking. The type of stories I want to dissect and reread. I skipped the SUV stories for personal reasons. The reimagined pandemic takes were fascinating. Some better than others. The writing retreat story nearly put me in a book slump. Almost caused me to DNF. But for Carmen, I continued. Interesting collection of stories. Poignant writing. Would recommend only specific stories. Some stories centered on metaphors that felt like too much of a reach. Hard to compare after reading the gem that is The Dream House. 

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kshertz's review

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Everything about this book is complicated. It’s a mix of short stories that are heavily sexual, and deal with a lot of different worlds and themes. It was hard for me to follow at times. I definitely liked some stories more than others. Overall I think it is like a niche group of people that would really enjoy this work and I just don’t think it was something that was for me.

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jialianyang's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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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lmaloney's review

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Wow.

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense

4.25


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ruthbreakher's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The book is confusing at times, but maybe I just need to read this like I'm a engl 302 teacher

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ejr1904's review

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dark funny tense slow-paced

3.25

It was hit and miss. 

I wanted so desperately to fall in love with all of these tales, but only a couple of them resonated. The Inventory was sensational and the ribbon was a really fascinating modernized version of urban legend. It was dark and nostalgic. 

I felt like the SVU story missed the mark. It was long, over imagined, and was difficult to track. I was most excited for that, but I was neither moved by the meaning nor the prose. 

Her writing is impactful and the subject matter is crucial, I was just left with wanting a bit more. 

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ellyrivera's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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