Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Nella casa dei tuoi sogni

Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Nella casa dei tuoi sogni by Carmen Maria Machado

21 reviews

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.

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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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charlie_woodchipper's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I audibly gasped many times by the description of abuse in the relationship. I've never been in an abusive relationship, and this book was eye opening, sad, tense. I had to press pause on the audibook a couple times

If you've lived through that, I'd be careful about picking this book up. It would certainly be very relatable, but also very triggering

Very glad that this was made. Like the author mentioned, it's very taboo to talk about abusive lesbian relationships, especially in the queer community. Very proud of this author for making it

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense

5.0

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toyin_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

It can be tricky for a survivor to read another survivor's experience, laid out like this, and not feel in some sense that it is too much, or too similar. Dream house as choose your adventure is my favourite section of the book, it feels like a closed loop and it is confrontational. When you try to stop the abuse, there's an aside between reader and author that is challenging, the idea you think you can when you can't.

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breadbummer's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

LOTS of literary/cultural references that flew way over my head, mainly in terms of "chapter" titles and, maybe it's because of the ADHD troubles when listening to an audiobook without text, but there were some passages that I was confused about how they related to the story. Otherwise, I'm speechless; horrifying events that were beautifully written.

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