Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Στο σπίτι των ονείρων by Carmen Maria Machado

145 reviews

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

Machado has such a poetic way of writing prose, which is one of my favorite things about reading her work. This memoir is written like no other I've encountered, and it's easy to understand why: in telling sharing her own experience of domestic abuse, Machado is pushing against cultural notions that women cannot hurt each other, that abuse only comes from men, and if queer women admit their queer women partners have hurt them, then they're damaging the community's reputation. In the Dream House does an excellent job grappling with All Of That and more. I've read many stories that feature abuse (both nonfiction and fiction) and none have so radically changed my perception of it as this book has.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Homophobia

Minor: Dementia, Death, and Physical abuse

pobaw24's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

blubonby's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I always find myself intimidated by non fiction books, especially memoirs, but this one was so easy to get into with the short chapters and the second person pov and the writing I read it in 3 sittings. 
The writing is so beautiful and was very easy for me to read, even though at first I was a bit nervous about it being written in second person pov I found it actually help suck me into the book. 
There were multiple times throughout reading when I was wanting to stop and underline bits and save quotes because they were so beautiful or understandable or relatable, even for me who’s never been in an abusive relationship. This is the kind of book where I think I could go back and reread over and over and still find something new. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Fatphobia

literally_mint's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Biphobia, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Cancer, Abandonment, Vomit, Alcohol, Rape, Dementia, Hate crime, and Fatphobia

murrderdith's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

This memoir was so beautifully and unsparingly devastating. Machado is unflinching in her account of (as Machado notes herself) all of the "legal" ways a partner can abuse and diminish you while also rooting the narrative within a folkloric framework (she never names the Woman in the Dream House, the only character without one in the way that the villains of those first stories we learn never have names as we recognize them)--returning again and again to the tropes of these ur-texts. Her language moves from ethereal and gauzy to razor-sharp in a way that reinforces the whiplash experience of having a volatile, erratic partner. 

**I would recommend looking at the content warnings from other users before reading this book if you are at all concerned it may be a difficult read for you to work through. I will add some but it is a likely an incomplete list**

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

This is a memoir of domestic abuse. It is beautifully written but not necessarily something everyone is in the right place to read. That said, it could also serve as a text the reader recognizes themselves in. I think it can be worth reading painful, recognizable texts for this reason. Proceed with caution.

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Dysphoria, Sexual assault, Confinement, Grief, Homophobia, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Rape

Minor: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Animal death, Car accident, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Eating disorder, Vomit, Murder, and Medical content

chaotic_bibliophile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

emily_lloyd's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

Beautiful and thought provoking memoir that discusses emotional abuse in WLW relationships. The concept of using the dream house as a vessel for Machado’s narrative is interesting without compromising the message. Despite it being an unusual format, I was sucked in and couldn’t stop reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fatphobia, Vomit, Stalking, Violence, and Infidelity

xfallenxnightx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Beautifully written memoir about domestic violence in a queer relationship. The writer surely has a way with words, this had me crying, laughing, and feeling confusion and anger alongside the author. Can’t wait to read more of her work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Violence, Infidelity, and Homophobia

Minor: Fatphobia

lizlikesfrogs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cursing, Rape, Biphobia, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts