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browdya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
machado’s writing is always so so good, and each story eventually captivated me, but the switching worlds all the time was tough for me to get into — i think i just don’t like short stories, but if you do, you’ll like this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Violence, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Gore
stupidlittleguy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual content
maddierose_m's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think this just was not meant for me. I fully understand the appeal and really liked some of these stories more than others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Sexual content, Fatphobia, and Eating disorder
thegoblinempress's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
2.0
I've been meaning to read this collection for years, ever since it was released and praised so widely, and I was certain it was a collection I was going to enjoy. Sadly, this wasn't for me.
Reading Her Body and Other Parties feels like watching the news. I've come out of this collection feeling glum and underwhelmed, and to be honest if glum's what Machado's going for then she's achieved what she set out to do. I'm getting tired of books described as 'feminist [insert genre here]' being so damn bleak, though.
There's no denying that Machado is a talented writer and she's a writer I will definitely try again in future as I have a feeling In the Dream House will be more up my street than this book ended up being, but even the stories I enjoyed were so depressing. I think my favourite was the first story in the collection, "The Husband Stitch," simply because it's the one story I'm 100% sure I understood. Honestly I could just be an idiot who hasn't got what the stories in this collection were trying to do, but sometimes I don't want them to do anything--sometimes I just want a story, and so often these stories ended in such a way that I didn't feel any kind of resolution.
It doesn't help that Machado's writing style leads us to spend our time with characters who feel pretty held at a distance throughout the collection, so not only are these stories often a bit of a bummer but I didn't feel as though I got to know any of the women particularly well either.
I would also have to agree that the longest story in the collection essentially being a bizarre piece of Law & Order: SVU fanfiction was such a strange choice. Though weirdly it's a story I'm more likely to remember than some of the others.
There's not much else to say aside from that Her Body and Other Parties bummed me out. Don't get me wrong I wasn't expecting happy stories at all, but when I hear a collection described as feminist I'm hoping for stories that aren't about women being and remaining miserable.
Reading Her Body and Other Parties feels like watching the news. I've come out of this collection feeling glum and underwhelmed, and to be honest if glum's what Machado's going for then she's achieved what she set out to do. I'm getting tired of books described as 'feminist [insert genre here]' being so damn bleak, though.
There's no denying that Machado is a talented writer and she's a writer I will definitely try again in future as I have a feeling In the Dream House will be more up my street than this book ended up being, but even the stories I enjoyed were so depressing. I think my favourite was the first story in the collection, "The Husband Stitch," simply because it's the one story I'm 100% sure I understood. Honestly I could just be an idiot who hasn't got what the stories in this collection were trying to do, but sometimes I don't want them to do anything--sometimes I just want a story, and so often these stories ended in such a way that I didn't feel any kind of resolution.
It doesn't help that Machado's writing style leads us to spend our time with characters who feel pretty held at a distance throughout the collection, so not only are these stories often a bit of a bummer but I didn't feel as though I got to know any of the women particularly well either.
I would also have to agree that the longest story in the collection essentially being a bizarre piece of Law & Order: SVU fanfiction was such a strange choice. Though weirdly it's a story I'm more likely to remember than some of the others.
There's not much else to say aside from that Her Body and Other Parties bummed me out. Don't get me wrong I wasn't expecting happy stories at all, but when I hear a collection described as feminist I'm hoping for stories that aren't about women being and remaining miserable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Body shaming
esophagus18's review against another edition
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
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
lolajh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It’s hard to rate this because I found some of the stories, like Real Women Have Bodies, Inventory, and Mothers, so memorable and good, whilst the rest were either not as memorable, very difficult to read, boring, or just unappealing.
The Husband Stitch was predictable for me mainly because I am familiar with the ribbon story, and I get what the story was trying to do by making the husband the physical embodiment of every unlikeable quality a man could ever have, but it just ended up irritating me that the main character continued to be with him. I would have loved to see more women with ribbons as I’m intrigued on whether their location affects the outcome of pulling it off, like if that woman in the story with a ribbon around her ankle wouldstill have her head fall off from it being pulled off
Inventory I loved, as it was a story told through each of the main character’s sexual encounters throughout her lifetime, and still manages to convey a post-apocalyptic setting of a deadly virus spreading over the world whilst portraying various types of relationship partners that exist, such as those who are respectful and use consent, or those that are violent and manipulative and don’t i.e. literal rapists. The main character’s resilience through it all and the fact that she continues to have relationships with people throughout the apocalypse without letting it get to her enough to give up was really nice to see. And even through her relationships with both men and women, there were never instances of homophobia to be the factors breaking the pair up, which was lovely.
Mothers opened with two cisgendered lesbians somehow conceiving of a child, followed by looking back at the pair’s relationship and its eventual toxicity. I loved this one, but I have to be honest, “My uterus contracted in protest“ sounds so much like it was written by a man and I do hate it I’m sorry.
Especially Heinous was the only story not in first person from the persective of a woman, and was a rather confusing mess of a psychological horror twist being put onto each episode of Law and Order SVU, which just felt totally like a fever dream and would maybe be enjoyable if it was readable and not based on Law and Order SVU maybe? Like the ghosts and hallucinations and overall insanity things were so cool, but impossible to piece together in a way that made sense.
Real Women Have Bodies. Wow. The ‘fading body’ malady was done in a way that made it so creepily good, and portraying it in a very modern context allows for the darker plot points likedresses being sewn onto the faded women, and the condition spreading to the romantic partner of the main character made it a scary and reflective tragedy, which I loved.
I could hardly read Eight Bites; it was way too heavy on eating disorder themes, and so I could hardly review the content as every page I found myself having to skip several graphic paragraphs.
The last two stories were okay, but not at all memorable for me. The Resident reminded me slightly of Plain Bad Heroines at first, which I liked, but Difficult at Parties was far too sexual-assault graphic for me, and its whole plot is about being able to hear the thoughts of the actors in porn that the main character was watching was hardly as eerie as the other stories.
The Husband Stitch was predictable for me mainly because I am familiar with the ribbon story, and I get what the story was trying to do by making the husband the physical embodiment of every unlikeable quality a man could ever have, but it just ended up irritating me that the main character continued to be with him. I would have loved to see more women with ribbons as I’m intrigued on whether their location affects the outcome of pulling it off, like if that woman in the story with a ribbon around her ankle would
Inventory I loved, as it was a story told through each of the main character’s sexual encounters throughout her lifetime, and still manages to convey a post-apocalyptic setting of a deadly virus spreading over the world whilst portraying various types of relationship partners that exist, such as those who are respectful and use consent, or those that are violent and manipulative and don’t i.e. literal rapists. The main character’s resilience through it all and the fact that she continues to have relationships with people throughout the apocalypse without letting it get to her enough to give up was really nice to see. And even through her relationships with both men and women, there were never instances of homophobia to be the factors breaking the pair up, which was lovely.
Mothers opened with two cisgendered lesbians somehow conceiving of a child, followed by looking back at the pair’s relationship and its eventual toxicity. I loved this one, but I have to be honest, “My uterus contracted in protest“ sounds so much like it was written by a man and I do hate it I’m sorry.
Especially Heinous was the only story not in first person from the persective of a woman, and was a rather confusing mess of a psychological horror twist being put onto each episode of Law and Order SVU, which just felt totally like a fever dream and would maybe be enjoyable if it was readable and not based on Law and Order SVU maybe? Like the ghosts and hallucinations and overall insanity things were so cool, but impossible to piece together in a way that made sense.
Real Women Have Bodies. Wow. The ‘fading body’ malady was done in a way that made it so creepily good, and portraying it in a very modern context allows for the darker plot points like
I could hardly read Eight Bites; it was way too heavy on eating disorder themes, and so I could hardly review the content as every page I found myself having to skip several graphic paragraphs.
The last two stories were okay, but not at all memorable for me. The Resident reminded me slightly of Plain Bad Heroines at first, which I liked, but Difficult at Parties was far too sexual-assault graphic for me, and its whole plot is about being able to hear the thoughts of the actors in porn that the main character was watching was hardly as eerie as the other stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, and Sexual violence
rtaire's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, and Body horror
Moderate: Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
bi_n_large's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Rape, Terminal illness, and Body horror
Minor: Violence
nialiversuch's review against another edition
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
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
danielles_reads's review against another edition
dark
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
I’ve only ever heard amazing things about this book… like every BookTuber or Bookstagrammer I’ve seen has given this 5 stars amazing.
Why?!?! I hated this.
The half a star is for the Eight Bites story, which is the only one that I liked. It was the only one with a sort of plot, the only one with straightforward and relatable themes (body insecurity), and the only one where the vague fantasy elements actually really benefitted the story instead of making it incomprehensible and pointless. Coincidentally it was also the only story that didn’t mention sex at all…
The way Machado writes sex is disgusting. It’s so obsessive (literally all these characters think about is sex), and overly descriptive to the point of being objectifying. There are no emotions involved either, only physical needs. And multiple stories include a scene of the narrator walking in on people having sex and standing there and watching. Why?! Is this a fantasy of the author? And why do so many women in Machado’s mind willingly use the word c*nt to refer to their genitals (one woman even prefers it over the word pussy)? I hate that word so much and I know a lot of other people do too. I don’t want to read that shit. Is this supposed to be feminist? I guess it’s feminist for women to act like men are stereotyped to act, and be constantly horny? Sooo empowering. Get a hobby.
All of the romantic relationships in this book revolve around sex, and the narrators think that’s the same as love. The worst offenders were The Husband Stitch and Real Women Have Bodies. I had zero emotional reaction to either of those because they are entirely centered around sex and only sex (and only the physical parts of sex). The Husband Stitch especially bothered me because it’s so well-received but the first half is literally only about horny teenagers constantly having sex? And people seem to see it as a story about the perils of women giving up everything for men, but I see it as a story about a couple that actually knows nothing about each other besides how to have sex, and are unwilling to share personal details with the other.
And I can’t not mention that one of the stories is a 58 page long SVU fanfiction written only via episode descriptions??? Why?!?!?
I finished every story except Eight Bites with the feeling of what the fuck just happened. what the fuck was the point of that story. These stories are described as literary when really they’re just nonsensical. The Resident and Difficult at Parties (people are saying the latter is about a woman recovering from sexual assault, but how do you know that??? Nothing even close to that is ever mentioned) were the most nonsensical and pointless of all the stories. Maybe I’m just too dumb for this collection lmao. I should’ve just DNFed after Eight Bites.
I’ve also seen only 5 star reviews for Machado’s other book In the Dream House, but I don’t think I’m going to read it after suffering through this trash pile. I’m really annoyed I wasted $16 on this.
Why?!?! I hated this.
The half a star is for the Eight Bites story, which is the only one that I liked. It was the only one with a sort of plot, the only one with straightforward and relatable themes (body insecurity), and the only one where the vague fantasy elements actually really benefitted the story instead of making it incomprehensible and pointless. Coincidentally it was also the only story that didn’t mention sex at all…
The way Machado writes sex is disgusting. It’s so obsessive (literally all these characters think about is sex), and overly descriptive to the point of being objectifying. There are no emotions involved either, only physical needs. And multiple stories include a scene of the narrator walking in on people having sex and standing there and watching. Why?! Is this a fantasy of the author? And why do so many women in Machado’s mind willingly use the word c*nt to refer to their genitals (one woman even prefers it over the word pussy)? I hate that word so much and I know a lot of other people do too. I don’t want to read that shit. Is this supposed to be feminist? I guess it’s feminist for women to act like men are stereotyped to act, and be constantly horny? Sooo empowering. Get a hobby.
All of the romantic relationships in this book revolve around sex, and the narrators think that’s the same as love. The worst offenders were The Husband Stitch and Real Women Have Bodies. I had zero emotional reaction to either of those because they are entirely centered around sex and only sex (and only the physical parts of sex). The Husband Stitch especially bothered me because it’s so well-received but the first half is literally only about horny teenagers constantly having sex? And people seem to see it as a story about the perils of women giving up everything for men, but I see it as a story about a couple that actually knows nothing about each other besides how to have sex, and are unwilling to share personal details with the other.
And I can’t not mention that one of the stories is a 58 page long SVU fanfiction written only via episode descriptions??? Why?!?!?
I finished every story except Eight Bites with the feeling of what the fuck just happened. what the fuck was the point of that story. These stories are described as literary when really they’re just nonsensical. The Resident and Difficult at Parties (people are saying the latter is about a woman recovering from sexual assault, but how do you know that??? Nothing even close to that is ever mentioned) were the most nonsensical and pointless of all the stories. Maybe I’m just too dumb for this collection lmao. I should’ve just DNFed after Eight Bites.
I’ve also seen only 5 star reviews for Machado’s other book In the Dream House, but I don’t think I’m going to read it after suffering through this trash pile. I’m really annoyed I wasted $16 on this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Fatphobia