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klsreads's review against another edition
5.0
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.
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
tobooks's review against another edition
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Dementia, Stalking, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
torturedreadersdept's review
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Dementia, and Pregnancy
kheinekamp's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Alcohol
neverlandpages4's review against another edition
5.0
I have not felt this immersed in a book in a long time. This book broke me down and taught me so much at the same time. I felt like I was there with the author because of the intimate use of second person POV. The intense and honest details of the relationship were terrifying to read, knowing that this is biographical. I don’t have the right words to describe what this book made me feel, but I think that it’s one everyone should read because it’s life changing.
𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
• I’ve already raved about this author’s writing but I’m obsessed with her writing!! I was mesmerized by the vivid imagery and the creative and unique metaphors. I could try to describe how good the writing is but I don’t think I would do it justice. And I loved the second person POV and how it addresses the reader.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬
“How do we do right by the wronged people of the past without physical evidence of their suffering?”
• A lot of this book centers around domestic abuse, psychological abuse, and abuse in queer relationships. It talks about how so many people aren’t believed when they speak out about their trauma because it isn’t physical or visible.
• I went into this expecting a story about an abusive relationship, but it was so much more. There’s a lot about queer history, queer characters, stereotypes, and much, much more. I felt like I learned a lot from this. It immensely changed the way I view so many different things from abusive relationships, to heteronormative relationships, to villains, and a lot of other things I never thought about.
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭
• This book has the most genius format ever. The author was able to capture how abusive relationships are a never ending cycle through the format of this book and it’s one of the most creative things I’ve ever seen.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Blood
Minor: Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Murder, and Pregnancy
aliced's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Gun violence and Vomit
rieviolet's review against another edition
3.5
I did not get along with the narrative structure, I found the rapid-fire succession of chapters (supposed to show different genres and narrative styles) too much disjointed and confusing. The writing style is a bit too much experimental for me.
I liked much more the chapters that were "essay-like", exploring queer history and theory. However, I think that this mixing of informative chapters together with more literary and elaborately written ones was a bit jarring, it felt like two different books mashed up.
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal death, Biphobia, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
_chonklord_'s review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting
hannibanani29's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Cancer, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail