Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

76 reviews

travelseatsreads'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? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's hard to put into words just how striking Carmen Maria Machado's writing is. I read In The Dream House at the start of the year & was left bereft yet craving more. I wanted to immediately dive into Her Body & Other Parties but waited a few months as I wanted to appreciate it in its own right & in its entirety. 

 

What I found in the pages behind the striking cover was another world of brilliance which captured my imagination fully & left me wondering with every carefully chosen word. 

 

As with any collection of short stories some will have more resonance than others with every reader but overall I found that even if I didn't necessarily 'enjoy' each short story while reading, every single one left me pondering for quite some time after. The perfect example of this was Especially Heinous which felt almost a little bit tedious at times as I was going through the individual episodes, but eventually unfurled into a creepy & oppressive portrayal of the indeed tedious, relentless & pervasive acts of violence against women. 

 

In all honesty there isn’t a story within the collection that didn’t leave some kind of a mark on me or didn’t leave me sitting struck & deep in thought but some of my favourites which really struck a chord with their brutality & honesty were The Husband Stitch, Inventory, Real Women Have Bodies, The Resident & Difficult At Parties. 

 

The whole book is bursting full of so many moments and quotes to relish, digest and just linger on that I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy to reread and devour again and again. I rarely buy books due to fortunately receiving ARCs & having the use of a fantastic library system but I need, not even just want, to have a copy of Her Body & Other Parties on my shelf to return to. 

 

Carmen Maria Machado is a writer like no other & Her Body & Other Parties conveys her innate ability to write pieces which are visceral, haunting, brutal & deeply thought-provoking. 

 

Powerful, surreal and simply stunning. 

 

(It is a book I want to recommend to everyone but due to its dark thematic nature & at times perplexing story arcs I can admit it may not be for everyone so I’ve included TW in comments & happy to chat about these if you’re considering reading it.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

ruthbreakher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

The book is confusing at times, but maybe I just need to read this like I'm a engl 302 teacher

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

cheyanndow's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Rape

emilymbrown's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Absolutely jarring. Not what I was expecting at all but I fell so attached the moment I read the first page. Beautiful and scary and confusing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

xaracelli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Gaslighting

jenmaysiereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

3 out of 5 stars 

‘Her Body and Other Parties’ is a beautifully written and complex short story collection which has left me with a lot of mixed feelings. The work is very experimental, both in prose and form and I really enjoyed how provocative that made each short story. Each story explores the different and violent ways women’s bodies are exploited, whilst also leaving the reader to create their own interpretation for each ending. 

Like every short story collection, the quality of the work is uneven and the meanings behind each story are differing levels of abstract. My favourites are ‘Real Women Have Bodies’ and ‘Difficult at Parties’. I enjoyed the abstract nature of ‘Especially Heinous’ but given I have no knowledge of Law & Order: SVU and the entire short story is a rewrite of the episode plot summaries it wasn’t the easiest concept to understand. 

Ultimately, there are stories in here which I liked significantly more than others—usually the ones that tread the line between absurdist and concrete in meaning (Difficult at Parties and The Husband Stitch) but the collection is definitely not as flawless as I’ve been lead to believe by other reviewers. I still think this is worth the read for anyone who enjoys complex explorations of feminist concepts and some fantastical, absurdist plot beats. 

I’ll definitely be picking up more of Machado’s work in the future; her prose is too decadent and her concepts too intriguing to not. For a debut collection, it’s definitely pretty solid. 

My individual ratings for each short story are as follows: 

The Husband Stitch—3.5

Inventory—3

Mothers—2.5

Especially Heinous—2

Real Women Have Bodies—4.5

Eight Bites—2

The Resident—1

Difficult At Parties—5

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

brookesinfinitebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This short story collection really blew my mind. Machado’s prose is so haunting. It slithers into all those parts of our brains where we hide ugly realities of the world from ourselves and teases them out. I felt so understood as a woman, a mother, someone who’s struggled with body image, and someone who grew up in a conservative environment. 

I would absolutely recommend this book because it’s an incredible examination of modern femininity and sexuality. However, I highly suggest you check out content warnings first. There were several stories that affected me more than I expected, and many trigger points. I had to take this one very slow, in small doses. Which works perfectly for a short story collection - I read one story every few days. 

These stories are definitely going to stick with me for a while. A few I particularly enjoyed: Mothers; Real Women Have Bodies; The Inventory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness

silverrose187's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I had a hard time with how abruptly some of the stories ended, my favorite short story especially because there was so much to explore and uncover.  I felt like it could have been an entire novel on its own.  I did like more of the stories than I didn’t.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Vomit

tealight's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Strange, vivid and sublime. It’s easy to imagine this book as a tv anthology, something like an early season of Black Mirror, maybe a little lofty at parts, but leaving you with a lovely little shiver regardless. Not every experimentation culminated into something spectacular, but some of these stories will stay with me for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Eating disorder and Fatphobia

Minor: Sexual assault