Reviews tagging 'Blood'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

41 reviews

mwhite0226's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

meleac07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

As a queer, predominantly lesbian individual, this gave me perspective and made me feel, in a way, safe.
Seeing a woman so openly and explicitly talk through her experience with queer domestic abuse, it both hurt me to the very core of my being and gave me hope that some day, we could as a society, fully acknowledge and accept that queer people are not a different species, somehow immune or shut off from the experiences of heterosexual people.
I find a part of myself reflected in this story, and the author so eloquently told it in a way that made me feel a part of it somehow, like I could feel a mere fragment of her suffering and heartbreak. 
This story is both brave and powerful in every way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Blood and Lesbophobia

Minor: Fatphobia and Animal death

cemeterygay's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

5.0

I cannot sing the praises of this book enough, It is such a hauntingly thorough retelling of the author's experience with domestic violence. I adored the greater structural analysis of Intimate Partner Violence and how it relates to homophobia, biphobia, and lesbophobia and how the author made sure to connect her story to the stories of many IPV survivors in the community. I cannot praise enough how much care and sensitivity was taken to the issues discussed in this book. I definitely don't think the author's writing style is for everyone as it can be very experimental at times but I personally adored it. 

If you are looking for an unusual exploration into domestic violence in queer relationships, I could not recommend this enough

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, and Vomit

Minor: Eating disorder, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Additional CW: Sexual abuse, assault, grooming, emotionally abusive parents,

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Biphobia, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Dementia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

snowydaze's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Words cannot describe how deeply I enjoyed this book. The strange format flowed nicely and worked well when listening to the audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol and Blood

cereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, and Blood

vigil's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

everything carmen maria machado writes is breathtaking and this book is no different. if you can stomach the theme of abuse, i highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

catandherbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Minor: Blood and Vomit

saintsunshine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

Deeply engaging and often emotionally challenging, Carmen Maria Machado has crafted a wholely unique memoir in In the Dream House. Machado places her story of domestic abuse amid historical and cultural contexts that often ignores queer women. Dream House is as informative as it is personal, and I deeply enjoyed it. Though difficult to get through at times, Machado's poignant memoir will likely become a classic in the genre in years to come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Drug use, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Vomit, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury

beforeviolets's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In the Dream House is a profound and thoughtful memoir exploring Carmen Maria Machado’s experience in a queer abusive relationship. The narrative is broken up into short chapters that explore different storytelling perspectives and styles, sprinkled through with thoughtful discussion of abuse, villainy, and queer history, and all while connecting tropes of folklore and symbolism to weave a cautionary fairytale of her own.

This book is the literal definition of poignant. I’m afraid to say too much, like speaking on the book in something so trivial as a review on the internet will pop the bubble of its magic. It feels insulting to try to put my reading experience into a summary of judgments. I could speak for days on its mastery. I can’t wait to read more of the brilliance that is Machado’s writing.

TW: intense discussion and portrayal of toxic relationships and domestic abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual), assault, homophobia/lesbophobia, sexism, grooming, panic attacks, eating disorder (mention), alcoholism, abusive parental figures (emotional), vomit , murder (mention), blood (mention)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Vomit

Minor: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Murder, and Blood