Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

62 reviews

sunbeam_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

One of the most amazing book I read in  2021. Absolutely would recommend to anyone, especially sapphic folks. However, PLEASE read TW/CW for this book it deals with really heavy stuff that may be triggering.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

This book deals entirely with domestic abuse in sapphic relationships.

han__turner's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

awiuff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.75

Could not put this book down. Machado's work is piercing and beautiful. Although dark, Machado's work was freeing to read as a queer person, and I found myself rooting for her. The Choose Your Own Adventure portion of this work is still lingering with me. Absolutely haunting. The narrative point of view is unique, dividing parts of the book into a first-person account from Machado after she finds herself post-relationship with the woman in the dream house, and the other into a second-person account placing the reader in the line of the intimate abuse taking place during her relationship. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism

cianarae's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I read this entire book in one sitting and could not put it down. It’s beautiful, tragic, splintered, poetic, visceral, unique. I loved the references to movies and books throughout that really gave context to the author’s thoughts and experiences. I want to share this book with everyone I know!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

teddyotso's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

memoirs and nonfiction aren't my thing. this was gorgeous and I am better for having read it 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Lesbophobia

heynonnynonnie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

  Hated|Disliked|Liked|Loved|Favorited 

In the Dream House is a bold and experimental memoir unlike anything that I've read before. But like all things new and experimental, there's a strong element of confusion. What was the author's intent? When did the story begin? Why was this chapter here? What was the importance of this metaphor? Of this citation? Sometimes I sat with a chapter and read it over and over again to try to make sense of its meaning. Now that I'm done with the book, I think the author's intent is much more clear. It's not a linear story. It's a collection of short pieces that circle around and around a subject, a thesis, and only sometimes about an abusive relationship. 
The author has a story to tell but has no language for it. She must invent one. The point of the story isn't her abusive relationship, it's that she has no way of framing it. She tries over and over again in each chapter to fit it into various tropes - like holding up a jewel to the light to inspect all its facets. Yet, she finds over and over again that there is no one narrative to tell her story. Every one explains an aspect but ultimately fails to fully contain her story. 
We feel that something wrong has happened to her, but there is no law broken. There's no legal case to refer to. There's no piece of writing that explains what happened. No character archetype to fall back on. No narrative to allude to. And so her goal is to imagine an archive, a house, a structure in which her story can live. A place where her story exists among literary devices, allusions, and metaphors that build legitimacy that the story is seeking. 
I think it's easy to mistake the sometimes second person tense as a weak attempt to create empathy. But it's not an attempt to blur the boundary between author and reader. It's a necessary disconnect in the text. An "I" author and a "you" victim that Machado switches between. A wall between the person she was and the person she is. A classification for her feelings and thought patterns. An Othering to in order to create the many character archetypes the victim falls into. 
The book feels like both the building and the unravelling. It seeks to teach you how to read its text and keeps you away from its core. It's discovering the why of a ghost through the means of a haunted house. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

beforeviolets's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In the Dream House is a profound and thoughtful memoir exploring Carmen Maria Machado’s experience in a queer abusive relationship. The narrative is broken up into short chapters that explore different storytelling perspectives and styles, sprinkled through with thoughtful discussion of abuse, villainy, and queer history, and all while connecting tropes of folklore and symbolism to weave a cautionary fairytale of her own.

This book is the literal definition of poignant. I’m afraid to say too much, like speaking on the book in something so trivial as a review on the internet will pop the bubble of its magic. It feels insulting to try to put my reading experience into a summary of judgments. I could speak for days on its mastery. I can’t wait to read more of the brilliance that is Machado’s writing.

TW: intense discussion and portrayal of toxic relationships and domestic abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual), assault, homophobia/lesbophobia, sexism, grooming, panic attacks, eating disorder (mention), alcoholism, abusive parental figures (emotional), vomit , murder (mention), blood (mention)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Blood, and Murder

embervleo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Car accident

mallory10100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

wow this book was amazing. heartbreaking yet quick. i highly recommend. i really liked the unique format. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

this book really doesn’t feel like non fiction, but it’s a chilling true story and i highly recommend it

urs's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Biphobia, Drug use, and Fatphobia