Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

15 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Sexism, Bullying, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Child death, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Drug use

The first story, The Husband Stitch, has depictions of underage sex; the second story, Inventory, also describes sexual interactions between minors. Inventory and Mothers depict relationships with questionable age gaps.

brookesinfinitebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This short story collection really blew my mind. Machado’s prose is so haunting. It slithers into all those parts of our brains where we hide ugly realities of the world from ourselves and teases them out. I felt so understood as a woman, a mother, someone who’s struggled with body image, and someone who grew up in a conservative environment. 

I would absolutely recommend this book because it’s an incredible examination of modern femininity and sexuality. However, I highly suggest you check out content warnings first. There were several stories that affected me more than I expected, and many trigger points. I had to take this one very slow, in small doses. Which works perfectly for a short story collection - I read one story every few days. 

These stories are definitely going to stick with me for a while. A few I particularly enjoyed: Mothers; Real Women Have Bodies; The Inventory.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Child death, Mental illness, and Child abuse

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

jojo_'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Gore, and Rape

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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

3.5

Machado's words are like silk, woven with such grace that I'm convinced she can make even the most mundane of household chores sound beautiful. That said, this collection as a whole was a bit of a mixed bag for me -- I LOVED some stories, while I slogged through others ("Especially Heinous" was one I found particularly long.)

I still recommend, if only for the experience of Machado's gorgeous words and her commentary on women's bodies in a society that chooses to look away and look down on them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Eating disorder, and Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Body shaming