Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Nella casa dei tuoi sogni

In the Dream House is an amazingly written memoir... although I may be biased as this was the first memoir I've ever read. I bought it as a congratulatory treat for myself after finishing my final uni work for the semester, and I finished the day after.

I have often thought about and participated in the discussions surrounding queer representation in media. I've heard two opposing arguments thrown around frequently: "queer representation is too morbid and sad, and portrays us in a negative light" and "queer rep shouldn't just be all sunshine and rainbows, it's not realistic". I feel like this text tackles both of these arguments, even if that might not have been the author's central purpose. Media representation often reflects the 'reality' of those who hold power in society. As Machado notes, this is the same for history. The people in power are the ones writing the narratives. The way this memoir discusses the author's experiences alongside tackling the societal erasure of domestic abuse in queer female relationships is masterful. The format of the chapters were so creatively put together. The way parts of the text was repeated and emphasised was something I had never seen before (then again, I am not a huge nonfiction reader). I particularly adored

the repeating elements of 'when I was writing this book', the Choose Your Own Adventure Story chapter, and the inclusion of historical events and stories. Oh! and Val :)

The writing was emotive and beautifully composed, keeping my eyes glued to the pages until I physically couldn't keep them open anymore. The short length of the individual parts kept my short attention span captured, and I found myself half-way through the book before I even realised.
I think this book has crawled it's way into my favourites, and I would definitely consider re-reading or looking into more of Machado's works.

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ldpaige's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

We deserve to have our wrongdoing represented as much as our heroism, because when we refuse wrongdoing as a possibility for a group of people, we refuse their humanity.

Filled to the brim with artistic language and mesmerizing lines, this book surprised me at times, disappointed me at times, but would pull me in just the same as it pulled me out. I believed the hype about this book and wasn't sorely disappointed, but just wasn't amazed in the way I thought I was going to be. Machado bears her heart out on this one, but for me, the narrative just got lost between the excerpts of context and beauty of her lines. I had to listen to the audiobook because I would have felt bad DNF-ing this book. I just wanted to love this book so bad.

If this book was more of a non-fiction look on

domestic abuse between lesbian couples

with her personal experiences woven in between, I would have LOVED this book. That excerpt towards the end about this topic was absolutely brilliant. I enjoyed

the gaslighting

excerpt as well!! She just kept losing me and this book didn't feel as spectacular as advertised.

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blymanor's review against another edition

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reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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mazeeee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

I think if I were to reread this, it would be five stars. Amazingly written. Beautifully robust characters (some even without name and sparse mention). Made me look inwards and evaluate my own relationships and actions. Definitely a must read for anyone, ever. Lots of trigger warnings for domestic and emotional abuse.

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