Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - In the Dream House

In this hauntingly stunning memoir, Carmen Maria Machado shows how sometimes there are villains who appear unlike the ones we know

Psychological abuse is jarring and very hard to recover from. Machado uses her experience to accurately portray the reality of being stuck in such a relationship. I felt as if we were one in the same at times (even though my abuser was an old friend)

Her personal journey and interwoven anecdotes from outside sources/stories like the movie “Gaslight” worked generously in Machado’s favor. She was able to successfully use these to show how not all abuse is violent. This proves how strong of a writer she is, along with her prose and scene building

Carmen Maria Machado was very brave in telling her story, as it is difficult beyond belief to open up about such a story when not everyone will believe you

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shmegsreadz's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

a mournful, gutting, soaring reprise of abuse in a lesbian relationship. as a lesbian, neoteric and unwilted, this is the most important book i have read in some time. i am forever grateful to machado for offering me insight into something i’m sure i would never be able to understand unless i lived through the experience, “you can be hurt by people who look just like you. not only can it happen, it probably will, because the world is full of hurt people who hurt people. even if the dominant culture considers you an anomaly, that doesn’t mean you can’t be common, common as fucking dirt,” (232). her prose is warm and every metaphor, reference, and motif is expertly tied to her point. what a beautiful thing; “book” feels like an underscore. this is advice and vulnerability. i will treasure my copy.

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good_names_dont_exist's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

Second person perspective, if you don’t like don’t read.

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booksandbesitos's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

A beautifully written memoir about an unfortunate and abusive relationship.

The symbolism of the dream house was very powerful and I loved how the chapters put the dream house as different things to explain the story. The short chapters made it a little easier to consume the heavy topics.
Every chapter is like fragments to show the big picture. I think that other survivors of abuse can also relate to telling their stories in fragments at first. Until you’ve ready to tell the whole thing.

Due to the nature of the story, the content in the book is very heavy. I encourage everyone to look at the content warnings before reading this.

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lo_vana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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salemander's review against another edition

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5.0

one of the most beautiful written and formatted books i’ve ever read. the looming sense of dread throughout as she falls deeper into abuse was heartbreaking, yet she fills the narrative with reminders that she will be free and it will not last forever. a gorgeous memoir.

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