Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

28 reviews

the_harlequin's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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: Body horror, Cursing, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Death, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

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

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

siobhanward's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

 I loved how this work sat right at the intersection of feminism and horror - it made for a rich combination that was creepy and real all at once. My favourite story was the first one (The Husband Stitch). It was a re-telling of The Green Ribbon, which was always one of my favourite creepy stories as a kid. Machado using this basis to comment on society's feeling of ownership and entitlement towards women's bodies was a great twist.

I struggled, however, with Especially Heinous. I really dislike when authors use the same, repetitive technique in a story and draw it out longer than any other piece in a book. Maybe I have a short attention span and it gets boring, maybe I would have liked it more if I'd watched more of SVU. Who knows.

Apart from that, it was a solid read - I think Machado has a great style and I love reading her work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Sexual assault

yaoipaddle's review

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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

Moderate: Stalking, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

esophagus18's review

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

absolutely beautiful depictions of the horrors that are being a woman

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Excrement, Vomit, Mental illness, Sexual content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gore, Medical content, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Violence, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

nialiversuch's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Body horror, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Medical content

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Gore, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Body horror, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Abandonment, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, and Child abuse

Illness outbreak, epidemic ("Inventory"). Unreality ("Especially Heinous"). Insects ("Eight Bites," "The Resident"). Illness ("The Resident").

k_aro's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

• 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? Yes

4.75

Basically a lot of it went over my head. Especially the story about Bad and the child, and the bits about the SVU. I've never watched SVU, so maybe that's kind of just a corner of something I'm totally unaware about. That said, the bits that I got, they really struck my bones; Machado is really talented at making you feel seen even when you might not be the exact person she's describing.

I think the one that rang most closely was "Eight Bodies", especially given that it came right after reading I'm Glad My Mom Died, a lot of which revolves around McCurdy's eating disorder (that has to do with her mom and how they are mirrors of each other). And also recently listening to Lucy Dacus' "My Mother and I". I've had a lot to think about with regards to me and my mom - especially since I've been away from her for a long time, now, when compared to the rest of my life. I also think about Rayne Fisher-Quann's Tiktok about being thankful for having mommy bloggers to see that moms truly do have lives that exist beyond their children, and how so often when you become a mother it seems to become the hinge of your life.

Especially since "Eight Bodies" is written from the painful perspective of a mother and a daughter who'll never really see eye to eye. It's painful, to simultaneously be the mirror of your mother but also to hate it. It's weird.

That aside, Machado is also a beautiful author, with the prose flowing as smooth as butter. Also, this book is so horny. And that's great. Maybe I'll read it again and appreciate it better the second time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Medical content, Police brutality, Self harm, Cursing, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Violence, and Murder

dromedaryreader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved some of the stories in this book. Others seemed lazy and were too caught up in small details to work as a short story. Eight Bites, Mothers, Difficult At Parties, and The Husband Stitch were my personal favorites. Inventory and The Resident were alright. I was not a fan of Real Women Have Bodies or Especially Heinous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

earthsigil's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Very good writing and overall I enjoyed it but there's a lot that can be difficult to get through depending on your personal experiences. There's a good variety of content between stories while still encompassing the same or similar themes. I wish I were smarter to write a better review because it gloriously captures the female experience but alas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Sexism, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Child death, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Drug use

The first story, The Husband Stitch, has depictions of underage sex; the second story, Inventory, also describes sexual interactions between minors. Inventory and Mothers depict relationships with questionable age gaps.