Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

156 reviews

creativerunnings's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

mariaisabelad's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

This was a gorgeous memoir. Compulsively readable from start-to-finish, Machado's penchant for lyricism and horrific elements makes for a creative, unique interpretation of the nonfiction structure. Her ability to express the corrosion of a relationship into intimate partner violence while acknowledging the complications of abuse in a queer relationship made me reflect deeply on the language we use to understand violence. An essential read from one of my favorite authors working today.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

rhiwind93's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

abmochapman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

In the Dream House might be one of those books to which I return again and again. Although Carmen Maria Machado’s writing is at times difficult and frustrating or simply gauche, it is also at times full of beauty and release. And what’s more is how much her words speak to experiences resemble my own despite the world of difference between them. 

Abuse in queer relationships is unique and deserving of the time and attention she pays to it in this book, and yet, the pain I experienced in abusive heterosexual relationships seems almost the same. I do not know the specific pain of being betrayed by a same-sex partner, someone who is so similar to me, but I do know what it’s like to doubt my own experiences and even wish there had been physical scars to which I could point as evidence. I understand that sick desire to be hurt enough to be heard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

harrirats's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

i am absolutely overcome with emotion. i cant say i’ve read many memoirs but this was maybe one of the most imaginative, deeply feeling and evocative approaches to a memoir i’ve ever come across. every piece of description and dialogue was so heart-wrenchingly personal and impactful.

the academic tone that underlined some of the chapters mixed with machados introspection and detail of her own experiences was a beautiful, haunting, and sensitive choice. the tone remained strong all the way through and the choice to advocate throughout this book was done very well. the metaphors, literary choices, and overall approach were just fantastic. the sources she used, the media that she critiqued and used to tell her own story along side of it were beautifully picked and j now have a list of essays, movies, and topics to go through. the choice to format each chapter in short vignettes centred around one theme, motif or technique was brilliant and i especially loved the use of footnotes to the folklore motif reference book, as reading them following the passage only heightened the point she was trying to make. some of these footnotes were so powerful, even if the reference was only 2 words. one that stood out to me was when she was describing her inability to masturbate, and she likened it to the motif of ‘losing magic power’, alongside the themes of sexual relation and her own acknowledged high sex drive and the power she personally got from sex, was a really insightful choice. 

the last two lines of thr acknowledgement. were beautiful. and i’m so grateful to have read this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

charlie_cheese's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Sometimes reading this book was like holding up a mirror

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

aquakirst's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

juliarenae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

i loved how the book was written, how raw, and exemplified her truth. it’s also incredibly brave to talk about your relationship and the abuse she survived. I think it’s powerful that she was able to be so raw and vulnerable with her audience. It was truly captivating and is a game changer for LGBTQ relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

southernselkie08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting