Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Her Body and Other Parties

A collection of short stories covering topics such as abuse, boundaries and politics. I loved it, though some stories were better than others. My favourite was the Mothers.

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rotfaced's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm not going to lie-- I was not endeared to this collection right away. It is clear that the author is a very strong writer and her imagery invokes some very visceral pictures, which drew me in utterly... but almost every story revolved around sex, if not as a theme, then as a common denominator between character actions. Characters mourn and have sex. They cry and stick their hands between each others legs. Sex is described as if it is the basic state for couples to fall into, which I suppose it can be. Desire for sex is lost and the guilt is a driving conflict between two characters who continue to watch porn like daytime television. There's even two scenes that nearly mirror each other in two different stories, where the POV character is a voyeur to two others having sex and becomes turned on by it.

There is so much sex, entirely too much sex for my comfort level. So, perhaps, it is less of an indictment and more of a compliment that I continued to read these stories regardless of the overt sexual bend to them.

Most of the stronger stories are later in the book. Some favorites:

I found "Real Women have Bodies" and "Eight Bites" to be especially beautiful and poignant.
"Especially Heinous" was very unusual, but fun and, I think, spectacularly creative.
"Difficult at Parties" was beautiful in it's rendition of grief and loss in the face of a traumatic incident.
Against everything, I did enjoy "Inventory" in the story it told, even if it was through the lens of every sexual partner the POV had ever had.

Less engaging was, unfortunately, the introductory piece, "The Husband Stitch," which I found to be stuffed too full of conceptual commentary (saying the same thing entirely too many time) and then predictable to boot. "Mothers" started strong, but ended confusing and difficult to follow, even with an elaborate second read. "The Resident," while profound in it's writing, went nowhere fast and fell flat at the end for me, though I enjoyed the journey there. I do appreciate that it was less sexual than some of it's counterparts.

Overall, a strong 4* read from me. The later stories did a lot to strengthen the collection as a whole, and I came to respect the authors perspective more.

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readingpicnic's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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lilysaintgeorge's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

It was very dark and scary at times. I felt sometimes like I wasn't smart enough to understand the symbolism, but I really enjoyed reading it. Overall it was about the violence inflicted on women's bodies by men, society, and ourselves. I adore Carmen Maria Machado's writing style, and I love how experimental she got, particularly in Especially Heinous. I also loved all of the perspectives on queerness throughout the stories, the depiction of queer domestic abuse in Mothers, the woman's relationship with her queer daughter in Eight Bites, the meta commentary on the crazy lesbian in The Resident. Cannot recommend enough.

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smallredboy's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow this book is. A lot. There is so much going on and I love every single bit of it. My only complaint is "Especially Heinous", which felt like it dragged on at times, but it wasn't all too bad. Every story packs a punch and I'm obsessed with all of them. My favorites are definitely "Eight Bites" and "The Resident", although every story is incredible.

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dytiscusfriend's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

The writing is magnificent from the most specific to general ways. Every detail of word choice and structure and narrative decision is precise and gorgeous. Deeply disturbing for me and one of the best collections of short stories I've ever read.

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