Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

127 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In the Dream House is a masterpiece. Told in vignettes structured around literature tropes, this memoir follows the rise and fall of a profoundly abusive relationship. Machado is brave, vulnerable, and unflinchingly honest as she exposes the abuse she suffered across a 2 year relationship with another woman. She asks: if we view queer relationships as utopia divorced from patriarchy and hierarchy, are we being homophobic? Are lesbians not humans - complex, hurting, and capable of inflicting extreme harm? If we flatten a group of people into a monolith, we dehumanize them. This book is a necessary addition to the growing work on the incidence of abuse in queer relationships.

I've never read anything quite like this - I loved the vignette narrative structure. The book moved quickly because most sections were short. A couple of the tropes dragged on for me/didn't hit 100%, but I was enthralled and could hardly put it down. A few standouts for me - "Dream House as Deja Vu" (x3), "Dream House as Queer Villainy" (!!!), "Dream House as Bluebeard", "Dream House as the River Lethe", "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure" ...... ok, I have to stop or I'm going to quote half of this work.

Even more wild: I was in Iowa City as an undergrad during the events of this book. Did I see Carmen and the Woman from the Dream House at a coffee shop, at Obama's speech, in a bookstore? It makes me shiver, the ways people suffer out of view.

Brilliant. Carmen Maria Machado is an absolute force and a genius of prose and innovative structure. I HIGHLY recommend this book, but mind the CW's. Machado doesn't shy away from the gore at the heart of her story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Biphobia, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gun violence

_fictionalreality's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Bullying, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

mybetzfriend's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Violence, and Gaslighting

iswearimliterate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

This book is excellent, heartbreaking and full of as much tension as hope. The writing style and repeated references to fairy tales (placing the understudied world of queer relationship abuse into a timeless context) really ground it as being not only harrowing for its content, but also in the diversity of emotions that Machado can conjure. Abuse is never a straight line, full of false breakups, moments of hope, and even love, or what you’ve convinced yourself is love. Top-tier.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Sexual violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pregnancy

errie's review against another edition

challenging dark

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

ems_book_shelf's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

5.0

This book was a masterpiece. From the start, it was hard to put down. The writing is so lyrical and the way the author writes metaphors for things that can’t be put into explicit words was amazing. There were many parts of this book that dug up past my traumas, put things into words that I have been struggling to myself, and made me reflect on my own thoughts and feelings and remembrances. 

Recommending this book a million times over 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Blood, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

carmentxx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

my second reread of this book and it is just impossible to not sit and reflect on the world in tears. machado is just so incredibly talented, you feel her excruciating pain, her debasement, humiliation, the unflinching trauma of a hidden domestic abuse. in the dream house is so good because machado provides a hidden archived memory. she provides us as much of the archived memory and invited us to think about how much is hidden- in this way, a form of un-memory- we are aware of how much memory is missing because we cannot even comprehend the extent of the memory. machado’s memoir is genre breaking, a historical and literary feat because she shows us the potential of how much is missing. there is so much missing. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

one of the most beautiful written and formatted books i’ve ever read. the looming sense of dread throughout as she falls deeper into abuse was heartbreaking, yet she fills the narrative with reminders that she will be free and it will not last forever. a gorgeous memoir.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

mirandalikesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

This was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. 

The thing that sets this book apart is the way it was written. The tone feels like poetry while equally being digestible and readable. The switch between first and second person was such an interesting way to tell a story. The "I" was disconnected from the "you" but still told told a cohesive account of Machado's story. The you chapters invited the reader in to examine the parts of their reality that they are disconnected from too. 

This perspective on domestic abuse intersected with queer culture intersected with fat culture and with religious trauma is engaging and terrible and inspiring. 

A wonderful read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Addiction, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Stalking, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, and Mental illness

nuii's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

I like the vignette-structure of the book, it feels like listening to a friend opening up about the abuse she went through and having an intimate look into her coping/healing journey - somewhat fragmented, but showing growth and realness at the same time. 
There arent necessarilly new, profound ideas/philosophy but I did learn a few things and I appreciate the candor and bravery to tell this story, very well-written.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship