Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

31 reviews

dromedaryreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I loved some of the stories in this book. Others seemed lazy and were too caught up in small details to work as a short story. Eight Bites, Mothers, Difficult At Parties, and The Husband Stitch were my personal favorites. Inventory and The Resident were alright. I was not a fan of Real Women Have Bodies or Especially Heinous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

woweewhoa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

This is a weighed review because if Especially Heinous was on its own, I'd rate it 5 Stars. The writing is haunting and the way it describes things is very vivid. I enjoyed it a lot!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Physical abuse, and Sexism

sofipitch'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Amazing, incredible, showstopping, never the same! I really loved this collection, the themes in it were so good and the writing is so elegant and the horror, some stuff had me grimacing physically. The only men story was Especially Heinous, which might be bc I've never seen SVU, so that's why this doesn't get the full 5, bc that one was also especially long

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Alcohol, Body horror, and Misogyny

Moderate: Misogyny, Animal death, Vomit, Stalking, and Rape

earthsigil's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Very good writing and overall I enjoyed it but there's a lot that can be difficult to get through depending on your personal experiences. There's a good variety of content between stories while still encompassing the same or similar themes. I wish I were smarter to write a better review because it gloriously captures the female experience but alas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

ejr1904's review against another edition

dark funny tense slow-paced

3.25

It was hit and miss. 

I wanted so desperately to fall in love with all of these tales, but only a couple of them resonated. The Inventory was sensational and the ribbon was a really fascinating modernized version of urban legend. It was dark and nostalgic. 

I felt like the SVU story missed the mark. It was long, over imagined, and was difficult to track. I was most excited for that, but I was neither moved by the meaning nor the prose. 

Her writing is impactful and the subject matter is crucial, I was just left with wanting a bit more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Dysphoria, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

thiccarus's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Body horror, and Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, and Rape

gm_vak's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, and Body horror

Minor: Rape

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death