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4.52 AVERAGE
4.52 AVERAGE
ths is the best book i’ve ever read in my entire life and nothing strikes me as deeply as carmen maria machados writing and i will read everything she writes forever this is like the Bible to me now
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
if I could give this a one gazillion star review I would
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A powerful intertwining of the author's personal history and queer history. Showing raw humanity in often marginalized communities.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5 stars, rounded down. I really struggled to rate this book, because it’s beautiful and wildly inventive. Straddling the line between memoir & collection of essays (and poetry, perhaps?), the author takes us on a journey through her experience in an abusive queer relationship — about which very little has ever been written. Her prose is lyrical and fantastical, and equal parts heartbreak and whimsy. The beautiful writing notwithstanding, at times this felt a little too Iowa Writers’ Workshop: several chapters felt forced into the book just to try something avant-garde, while in actuality they were just a different way of repeating the same plot points over and over again. Still, the book is so unbelievably creative, the writing so exquisitely beautiful (a little too beautiful, maybe?), that I may end up coming back and changing my rating to 4 stars. Give it a try!
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I'm not convinced this succeeds as memoir, but it is creative nonfiction that sings. There are occasionally sentences so beautiful they stagger. The dream house as character/motif is not effectively built by the text, and the "dream house as" structure tires quickly. I wish Machado had been brave enough to fully write herself into the narrative, but I suppose she was reaching for universal. It reads gimmick. 3.5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
A brilliant and dark book. She lets us believe that queerness/queer community is to be treasured and also narrates how queerness can't protect her from abuse and trauma.