Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado

102 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

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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. 

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filisia's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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mybetzfriend's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0


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hollyrebecca's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.25


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christina85's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0


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booksandbesitos's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

A beautifully written memoir about an unfortunate and abusive relationship.

The symbolism of the dream house was very powerful and I loved how the chapters put the dream house as different things to explain the story. The short chapters made it a little easier to consume the heavy topics.
Every chapter is like fragments to show  the big picture. I think that other survivors of abuse can also relate to telling their stories in fragments at first. Until you’ve ready to tell the whole thing. 

Due to the nature of the story, the content in the book is very heavy. I encourage everyone to look at the content warnings before reading this. 


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katiefreeman209's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75


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yourbookishbff's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

In the Dream House felt so reminiscent to me of Children of the Land, in that both memoirs are non-linear and episodic, weaving truth abstractly to allow for a retelling of significant trauma. The use of horror devices - and the eery symbolism of the dream house - underscore the constant suspense and fear Machado experienced within an abusive relationship with her female partner. Her narrative creates new space for accounting trauma within queer relationships, and she incorporates historical discussions of intimate partner abuse in queer relationships and research into its prevalence. 

This narrative structure also helps the reader understand the slow boil of abuse and sheds light on the ways people wield power within relationships. It is a heart wrenching examination of the isolation, emotional manipulation, bullying and gaslighting of emotional abuse in particular. I also really appreciated the reflections on language and pop culture (the origin story of the term gaslighting was new to me and fascinating).

This is a horrifying and beautifully written memoir that will resonate with those who appreciate nonlinear reflections. I particularly loved the use of second person to address her younger self, and the simultaneous distance and intimacy this created for her as she examines this part of her life. 

I would also note that the audiobook is narrated by Machado and I highly recommend this format.

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alicia_ann_reads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I don't typically rate memoirs, but this one was just so good. 

Partly because I could see my own trauma all throughout and it was written in the second person which made it incredibly cathartic; but also because the author interspersed her memoir with information, other stories and events that paralleled or highlighted her, and others experiences and was written in an almost poetic manner.

Just such a phenomenal book. 

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