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yleavy's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Fatphobia
inoshiiro's review against another edition
5.0
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 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.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Drug use
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
ldpaige's review
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
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
blymanor's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Body shaming, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, and Lesbophobia
mazeeee's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
mdwsn27's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Vomit, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Abandonment, and Biphobia
toyin_'s review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
creativerunnings's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Toxic relationship
authorisasauthordoes's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit
kendal_reads's review
4.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Lesbophobia