Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

31 reviews

rebrosecca's review against another edition

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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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catsy2022's review against another edition

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

3.0

Rating: B-

Like the other reviews say about short story collections being a mixed bag, I totally agree. I liked the first story about the green women, collectively about people (men) not respecting boundaries / curiosity killed the cat. 
The Law and Order kind of story that was like a synopsis of every episode in like 8 seasons of TV shows - that was really bad.
I did kind of zone out and lose track of the other stories. Not really worth the read.

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mariaologist's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.75

The first batch of stories (I think it’s the same characters stretched out over different titles)  are brilliant, empowering, change-provoking. The type of stories I want to dissect and reread. I skipped the SUV stories for personal reasons. The reimagined pandemic takes were fascinating. Some better than others. The writing retreat story nearly put me in a book slump. Almost caused me to DNF. But for Carmen, I continued. Interesting collection of stories. Poignant writing. Would recommend only specific stories. Some stories centered on metaphors that felt like too much of a reach. Hard to compare after reading the gem that is The Dream House. 

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sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

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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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arbramirez's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5


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janwe's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Difficult to rate... Although, I did not really enjoy reading these stories, I think the exploration of themes (especially sexuality and power dynamics) were very well executed and the writingstyle is brutally harsh and beautifully poetic at the same time. 
BUT, and that has rather to do with my personal reading tastes at the moment, than with the stories and their contents ...
 I AM soo over that kind of "vulgar sexual content"...  I don't know... I just couldn't care less about it... That definitely influenced my reading experience..
Additionally, due to the blurb on the back, I expected the short stories to be weirder, and dip more into SF and horror (it is horror - but rather everyday horror of the female experience in society)... 
I guess, I am not the right audience for these kind of literary short stories 🤷‍♀️

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snazzy10101's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-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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jess_18's review

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

5.0

I definitely thought the first short story ‘husband stitch’ was the best, it was upsetting but written very well. Some of the stories went over my head a bit but I think they were all good and told an interesting narrative. 

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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Her Body And Other Parties taps into the horror of being seen as a woman - and emphasizes it with a fine and careful touch of the surreal. Thought-provoking and cerebral, Machado doesn't hold back on displaying the female body in all its gory glory. It is unsettling and horrifying, but in a very real and relatable way - there are no jumpscares here, only uncomfortable truths. Like all short story collections, I liked some of the stories more than others (I enjoyed "Inventory" and "Especially Heinous" the most) though they are all worth a read, as every story in this collection churned in my mind for days after reading it. I can't wait to see what Machado writes next.

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vdparedes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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