Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

73 reviews

warlockdorian's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Dysphoria, Grief, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, and Cursing

undecidedpersonality's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Blood, Misogyny, and Self harm

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia

janwe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Difficult to rate... Although, I did not really enjoy reading these stories, I think the exploration of themes (especially sexuality and power dynamics) were very well executed and the writingstyle is brutally harsh and beautifully poetic at the same time. 
BUT, and that has rather to do with my personal reading tastes at the moment, than with the stories and their contents ...
 I AM soo over that kind of "vulgar sexual content"...  I don't know... I just couldn't care less about it... That definitely influenced my reading experience..
Additionally, due to the blurb on the back, I expected the short stories to be weirder, and dip more into SF and horror (it is horror - but rather everyday horror of the female experience in society)... 
I guess, I am not the right audience for these kind of literary short stories 🤷‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Rape

rbsinger's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape

gabbybobadilla's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

ehponies's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

A phenomenal selection of contemporary feminine gothic narratives that lovingly reincorporate the grotesque, the fantastic, and the practices of great women authors of the genre such as Shirley Jackson to reconstitute parables for the modern, abject subject.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Physical abuse

jess_18's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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

bashsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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

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

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

danimacuk's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

jialianyang's review

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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Content Warnings

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

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