Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

104 reviews

bellsdixon's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Infertility, Death, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Eating disorder, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit

lemonsaurus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death

ominousspectre's review

4.25

The Husband Stitch (4.5 Stars)
Folktales meet bodily autonomy
 
Inventory (3.5 Stars)
The reveal is cool and this made me somber
 
Mothers (3.5 Stars)
Raising a child through abuse

Especially Heinous (DNF)
This felt very out of place and difficult if you aren't a huge SVU fan

Real Women Have Bodies (5 Stars)
My favorite. Hurt me in my deepest soul

Eight Bites (4.5 Stars)
Having a body is horror

The Resident (5 Stars)
Felt like I was reading Shirley Jackson, which I loved.
"What if you colonize your own mind and when you get inside, the furniture is attached to the ceiling?"

Difficult At Parties (4 Stars)
Really well done, just very hard for me personally to get through 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Eating disorder

mmelibertine's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

rebrosecca's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

 An uncomfortable and gritty look at issues surrounding women's bodies. Every story addresses some form of violence put on women, whether from strangers and predators, those close and dear to us, society, or ourselves, it misses nothing. The writing is very original, blending genres, making everything grim and dark and unreal. These are stories that every time you read them, you get something more from them. The book should definitely be read with caution if you are sensitive to certain issues like sexual assault/rape and body image. I found this confronting in a lot of ways, but I have a serious appreciation for how thorough and relatable the subject matter is. The utterly unique writing style sets this apart from any other collection of short stories I've read so far. New favorite author. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Gore, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Dysphoria

wildflowercrypt's review

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

a strange collection of short stories, sometimes good (Especially Heinous was bananas but it’s gonna stick with me), sometimes forgettable (Inventory was ok but was pretty unremarkable compared to the other stories in the volume, imo). The Resident was my personal favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

hmoog's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

really well written book, but really hard emotionally to read and get into. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Sexism, Rape, Body horror, and Gore

ahappyhallowqueen's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Eating disorder, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Rape

mollydimatteo's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.25

Some stories resonated more than others. The Husband Stitch seems to be a reader favorite, and I really enjoyed The Resident. Mothers and Especially Heinous left me more confused. Overall, the book made me and my experience as a woman feel seen in a way few other pieces of media have. Quite a few people expressed their dislike for the sex scenes, but I think they may have missed the point. Society’s relationships with women and with sex are so intertwined, it would be impossible to tell such a moving and true story without it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence and Emotional abuse

Minor: Animal death

lancemama's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Rape, Misogyny, Sexism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Gore, and Death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Addiction, Abandonment, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement