Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

141 reviews

bellsdixon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Infertility, Death, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcohol, Body horror, Eating disorder, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit

lue_moon's review against another edition

3.5

I picked this up after reading Machado's memoir (which I thought was excellent). These stories were a bit hit or miss for me. I know speculative fiction generally has unresolved aspects and it just often felt like I was left confused, or like I was missing a piece. It's still great writing, just feels a bit unfinished, or maybe the point of the stories is going over my head. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Body horror, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault

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

hmoog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

really well written book, but really hard emotionally to read and get into. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Sexism, Rape, Body horror, and Gore

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

dimeryrene's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Most of the stories are good when listening, but I can't remember more than two of them in detail. The only story I actually didn't like was the recap of all the SVU episodes. I really do love the writing style and sometimes a sentence would really catch me or I would think, "That's a great tattoo idea!" But now, I can't recall much. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror

shaun_dh's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this collection. It’s freaky and weird in the best ways

A total random aside, the feel of the paperback is fantastic. It’s just heavy enough, the font is great, and the thickness of the pages is perfect 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder and Fatphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Vomit, Mental illness, and Body horror

ahappyhallowqueen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Eating disorder, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Rape

ht2012's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Author reflects on being a queer woman through the lens of horror/body horror. Intriguing reoccurring themes of dead deer on the side of the road and madness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

pisceseason's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual content