Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Na casa dos sonhos by Carmen Maria Machado

26 reviews

macadoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal death

leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

4.0

I'm not really sure how to write this review. On the one hand, I don't feel right in giving a lower rating to a memoir because I didn't love reading the writing style; on the other hand, I thought the writing style was kind of brilliant. Overall, I believe that Machado was incredibly brave for writing this memoir, as any victim of abuse typically deals with trauma, and that can be so difficult to put into words of any format. The fact that she is in a WLW relationship makes her abuse that much less common to read about, as many people don't even believe that abuse can occur within same-sex relationships [although it absolutely can, and does, occur]. The existence of this book is so necessary, and brings to light an important topic in our society, whether or not you identify as part of the LGBTQIAP+ community. The style of writing won't be for everyone, and there are many difficult topics within the book (which shouldn't be surprising, given what the book is about), but if you can get through those two main aspects, this is a solid read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Drug use, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Car accident, Infertility, and Rape

Additional TW/CW: brief Harry Potter reference, divorce, psychological abuse, trauma

jojo_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

ivana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship

olivemyheart's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful sad fast-paced

5.0

This book was absolutely heartbreaking and necessary. As Machado claims, queer people are people, and that means we can have every experience people have--which encompasses abusive relationships. Furthermore, her ability to understand and convey her own emotions shows maturity and introspection that is truly admirable. At first I anticipated not liking the speculative writing style, but it was very well done and effective for conveying her experience. Here are a few moments that I found incredibly profound (CW for discussion of domestic violence)
Her wishing her girlfriend had been a man so that people would believe her, so her experience wouldn't give the queer community bad rep
Her wishing her girlfriend had just hit her so she would have some concrete evidence
Her discussions of queer history and intersectionality, which showed the depth of research and thought she put into this book
Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I'm very glad to hear Machado is in a happier place now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

Minor: Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape

adoras's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In the Dream House is told in a unique style that combines memoir, media and literary criticism, and research of documented lesbian domestic abuse. In it, Carmen Maria Machado is trying to find the language to tell the story of an abusive relationship, something made difficult both because of the abuse and because, in a relationship between two women, there is an utter lack of acknowledgement that abuse happens.

The book is broken up into short chapters with headings that will examine her story through a certain lens. Some of these set the events in a place ("The Dream House as Apartment in Philadelphia"), while some will speak about some piece of media that gives context to an abusive and manipulative relationship and its effects, at least for Machado (this ranges from the movie Gaslight to the folktale "Bluebeard" to an episode of Star Trek). Others think about more common tropes, styles, or themes ("The Dream House as Idioms", "The Dream House as Schrodinger's Cat", "The Dream House as a Plot Twist"). In the prologue, Machado talks about "archival silence," in which stories are erased or destroyed or never spoken about. These many different chapters are a way of telling her story, as well as unearthing many others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Fatphobia

Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Homophobia, and Misogyny