Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

70 reviews

downcircles's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a wonderful book! I found for me it was best to read the stories individually and put the book down after so I had time to reflect on the themes and messages. The stories vary in how straight forward their themes are (and wether I personally got something out of them) and I wouldn't reccomend this for people who are just getting into this sort of wrapped up in several layers sort of societal commentary. But if you like that sort of thing definitely worth a try. This book uniquely made me want to seek out other people's views and analysis of the indivual stories and I gained a great deal more appreciation for the book this way. If you have someone else who likes this sort of thing and is willing to discuss their interpretations give it a go! (also my favorite is still "the husband stitch) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, and Sexual violence

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, and Blood

Minor: Sexual harassment, Cursing, Animal death, Eating disorder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Medical content, Self harm, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

lizzyjean's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

4.75

This book of short stories is astounding. Each story was so unique and thought-provoking, and I fell in love with each page. Each story may need a bit of reflection and analysis in order to grasp the story, but that is something I love to do, so I didn’t mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual violence

At least two stories contain themes of toxic relationships, one focusing on misogynistic behavior. One story revolves around an epidemic, many stories contain sexual themes and content, one story has a brief moment of sexual violence/assault.

undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

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

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense

4.0

This was a really intense collection. It's the sort of literature you really have to sit with. I felt like I should have been reading it for a class (not in a bad way). There was a lot explored in interesting and intricate ways. There was a lot thematically about misogyny, trauma and mental health, and queerness. 

As with any collection, there were ups and downs. My favorite story was probably Mothers. My least favorite was Especially Heinous (though I love a lot of the ideas there, it was way too long). Overall, it was well written, intense, and definitely fucked with my mind

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

snazzy10101's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

bellist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

There’s no doubt that Carmen Maria Machado is an immensely talented storyteller. Her prose is variously elegant and chilling in this collection, and I really enjoyed hearing it read aloud in the audiobook. But I wasn’t gripped by the plots of the stories themselves — most of them ended fairly quietly and lacked the thrill of a some kind of mystery revealed.  I fully skipped “Especially Heinous” (a retelling of SVU plots) because the format didn’t do anything for me, and I don’t know anything about that show. That doesn’t mean the rest of the stories weren’t good, they just didn’t give me what I wanted out of a horror anthology, but I don’t regret seeing the collection through. If you want to read some gorgeous writing and engage with thoughtful stories that blend themes like body horror and trauma with feminism and queerness, give it a try.  

Standout: The Husband Stitch 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Body horror, and Eating disorder

danielsal31's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Misogyny

brittknee52's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse