Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

19 reviews

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Body horror, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Medical content

apolloann's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Animal death, and Sexual content

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Gore, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Body horror, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Abandonment, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, and Child abuse

Illness outbreak, epidemic ("Inventory"). Unreality ("Especially Heinous"). Insects ("Eight Bites," "The Resident"). Illness ("The Resident").

queerghstbuster's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Body horror

Moderate: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Abandonment

dromedaryreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved some of the stories in this book. Others seemed lazy and were too caught up in small details to work as a short story. Eight Bites, Mothers, Difficult At Parties, and The Husband Stitch were my personal favorites. Inventory and The Resident were alright. I was not a fan of Real Women Have Bodies or Especially Heinous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

travelseatsreads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

It's hard to put into words just how striking Carmen Maria Machado's writing is. I read In The Dream House at the start of the year & was left bereft yet craving more. I wanted to immediately dive into Her Body & Other Parties but waited a few months as I wanted to appreciate it in its own right & in its entirety. 

 

What I found in the pages behind the striking cover was another world of brilliance which captured my imagination fully & left me wondering with every carefully chosen word. 

 

As with any collection of short stories some will have more resonance than others with every reader but overall I found that even if I didn't necessarily 'enjoy' each short story while reading, every single one left me pondering for quite some time after. The perfect example of this was Especially Heinous which felt almost a little bit tedious at times as I was going through the individual episodes, but eventually unfurled into a creepy & oppressive portrayal of the indeed tedious, relentless & pervasive acts of violence against women. 

 

In all honesty there isn’t a story within the collection that didn’t leave some kind of a mark on me or didn’t leave me sitting struck & deep in thought but some of my favourites which really struck a chord with their brutality & honesty were The Husband Stitch, Inventory, Real Women Have Bodies, The Resident & Difficult At Parties. 

 

The whole book is bursting full of so many moments and quotes to relish, digest and just linger on that I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy to reread and devour again and again. I rarely buy books due to fortunately receiving ARCs & having the use of a fantastic library system but I need, not even just want, to have a copy of Her Body & Other Parties on my shelf to return to. 

 

Carmen Maria Machado is a writer like no other & Her Body & Other Parties conveys her innate ability to write pieces which are visceral, haunting, brutal & deeply thought-provoking. 

 

Powerful, surreal and simply stunning. 

 

(It is a book I want to recommend to everyone but due to its dark thematic nature & at times perplexing story arcs I can admit it may not be for everyone so I’ve included TW in comments & happy to chat about these if you’re considering reading it.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Death, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

ruthbreakher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

The book is confusing at times, but maybe I just need to read this like I'm a engl 302 teacher

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Eating disorder, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Rape, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Murder, Medical content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

emilymbrown's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Absolutely jarring. Not what I was expecting at all but I fell so attached the moment I read the first page. Beautiful and scary and confusing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Grief, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Violence, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pregnancy, Abortion, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, and Death of parent

dhritigupta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

it took me a bit to get through this, but i still liked it! i felt like i was too dumb to fully understand the stories a lot of the time, but many of them still stuck with me! the writing was beautiful the whole way through, but some stories i wanted to know what was going on a bit more!! my faves were mothers, inventory, real women have bodies and eight bites. however, even with the ones i didn’t get as much, i’m still thinking about them, bc they grow on you by the time you finish the story. like with especially heinous and the resident i’m still thinking about the perfect eeriness, even if i didn’t love them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Gore, Animal death, Murder, Body shaming, Body horror, Fatphobia, Blood, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship