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jojo_'s review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, and Car accident
kayleyhyde's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Vomit
silviaaa's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Vomit, and Car accident
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
5.0
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
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I bought this book back in November, with a new lockdown looming and the nights drawing in. I finally read it last week, as the temperature started to climb in London and I was out in the park with my picnic blanket in the sunshine, and I’m so glad I waited! It felt like I read this book when I was in exactly the mood to get the most from it.
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🥀 The concept: In this roving and experimental memoir, Machado explores her experience of domestic abuse in a lesbian relationship, discussing not only queerness and sexuality but also memory, gender, religion, fatphobia, fairytales and much more.
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The writing in this book is phenomenal, but bookstagram has probably told you that already. It’s broken down into short chapters which each explore different facets of Machado’s experience in the Dream House - the literal house that her abusive relationship took place in, and the many metaphorical manifestations it has taken since. It’s poetic and novelistic at times but also feels very informational due to the many research papers, essays and reference texts it cites (it’s up there with Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace for me under “most powerful use of footnotes”).
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This book typifies exactly the non fiction I most love to read: memoir that is empathetic and insightful, but that also contextualises an individual’s feelings and actions within the broader systems and trends that affect them. I love those zooming-out moments that let some air in!
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🏡 Read it if you like a slightly academic tint to your memoir, or if you read a lot of poetry and would like to read more non-fiction.
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🚫 This might be heavy going if you’re sensitive to scenes of emotional abuse and I’d check the TWs pretty carefully. Also avoid if you prefer more traditional storytelling styles as this is very artfully fragmented!
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This was my third 5🌟 read of the year guys 😵 and (spoiler for my Shuggie Bain review) definitely not my last!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Mental illness
olivemyheart's review against another edition
5.0
Her wishing her girlfriend had been a man so that people would believe her, so her experience wouldn't give the queer community bad rep
Her wishing her girlfriend had just hit her so she would have some concrete evidence
Her discussions of queer history and intersectionality, which showed the depth of research and thought she put into this book
Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I'm very glad to hear Machado is in a happier place now.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, and Murder
kylajaynebooks's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
opinionsofawolf's review against another edition
3.0
In the Afterword you find out that some of the chapters of this book were previously written as essays for some websites (such as The Hairpin). It made the feel of the book make more sense to know that, so I think others should know that going in.
It's difficult to review a memoir that you didn't like that much. On the one hand, I always appreciate the author's bravery in sharing their story to the public. On the other hand, I can't help it that I just didn't like the book very much. I want to be clear that I wasn't expecting to enjoy it - I knew this was about an abusive relationship so enjoy would absolutely be the wrong word. I suppose the most honest statement would be that I just didn't like the people in the book very much - including the ones I was supposed to empathize with. I'm a bisexual woman too of a similar age to the author, so you might expect that I would find her relatable, but I didn't, and that made me struggle with this one. While this is a memoir and on the one hand personal is expected, I don't want to say anything personal about the author beyond that. It wasn't relatable for me, and I didn't like anyone in it very much.
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, and Domestic abuse
This has the potential to be triggering for anyone who has been in a toxic relationship. The tone of the book is very much of a victim mindset. The author claims her bisexuality while simultaneously telling an uncle she's a lesbian and calling her f/f relationship lesbian relationships. These are symptoms of internalized biphobia.pennym_'s review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit
amengels's review against another edition
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
janeharder's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Vomit