Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

21 reviews

perleerose's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely obsessed with Machado’s writing now. Her descriptions are so unique but accurate and her creativity shines through in the plot of each short story. My favorite was either Inventory or the Law & Order SVU one. 
Will definitely be recommending it to any horror fans that I know.
‘how I could have scooped despair from the air by the handfuls.’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Eating disorder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexism and Medical content

rosieecross's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape

lemonsaurus's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death

hannahshriver5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

incredible collection of short stories that have really stuck with me since. touches of sci-fi/horror elements both highlight and critique the normalized violence, expectations, and hypocrisy that femme people face under patriarchy. the stories had elements of both beauty and grotesqueness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death

rebrosecca's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

 An uncomfortable and gritty look at issues surrounding women's bodies. Every story addresses some form of violence put on women, whether from strangers and predators, those close and dear to us, society, or ourselves, it misses nothing. The writing is very original, blending genres, making everything grim and dark and unreal. These are stories that every time you read them, you get something more from them. The book should definitely be read with caution if you are sensitive to certain issues like sexual assault/rape and body image. I found this confronting in a lot of ways, but I have a serious appreciation for how thorough and relatable the subject matter is. The utterly unique writing style sets this apart from any other collection of short stories I've read so far. New favorite author. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Gore, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Dysphoria

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Body horror, Sexual content, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, and Vomit

Minor: Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Blood

addythebookbat's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Body shaming, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

lancemama's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Rape, Misogyny, Sexism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Gore, and Death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Addiction, Abandonment, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, and Blood

Minor: Sexual harassment, Cursing, Animal death, Eating disorder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Medical content, Self harm, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

lizzyjean's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

This book of short stories is astounding. Each story was so unique and thought-provoking, and I fell in love with each page. Each story may need a bit of reflection and analysis in order to grasp the story, but that is something I love to do, so I didn’t mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual violence

At least two stories contain themes of toxic relationships, one focusing on misogynistic behavior. One story revolves around an epidemic, many stories contain sexual themes and content, one story has a brief moment of sexual violence/assault.