Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

62 reviews

rachaelallyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

lycheejelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Cancer, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Lesbophobia

jmcordero's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Self harm, and Abandonment

Minor: Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Outing

corvidprince's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense

5.0

I wasn't in an abusive relationship--not one like this anyways, and yet so much of it hits home about my parents and my childhood into my ongoing adulthood. she captures the same feelings I had, still have, in a way I could never put words to. 

this book is bone chilling and real. it's one of the few books that have ever brought me to tears.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Religious bigotry

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

5.0

I'm not in the habit of giving non-fiction ratings, but in this case, the book deserves credit. Beautifully written and wonderfully research, all so Machado could tell her own story. This was difficult and emotional to read, but really worth it. I just wish I knew who to recommend this to. It's probably the kind of book that if you read the description and reading it scares you a little, give it a shot. But take it slowly, this is a hard read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

soswitty's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

kayleyhyde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Vomit

allesartemis's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

Beautifully written, raw, and emotional.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

opinionsofawolf's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

3.0

In the Afterword you find out that some of the chapters of this book were previously written as essays for some websites (such as The Hairpin). It made the feel of the book make more sense to know that, so I think others should know that going in.

It's difficult to review a memoir that you didn't like that much. On the one hand, I always appreciate the author's bravery in sharing their story to the public. On the other hand, I can't help it that I just didn't like the book very much. I want to be clear that I wasn't expecting to enjoy it - I knew this was about an abusive relationship so enjoy would absolutely be the wrong word. I suppose the most honest statement would be that I just didn't like the people in the book very much - including the ones I was supposed to empathize with. I'm a bisexual woman too of a similar age to the author, so you might expect that I would find her relatable, but I didn't, and that made me struggle with this one. While this is a memoir and on the one hand personal is expected, I don't want to say anything personal about the author beyond that. It wasn't relatable for me, and I didn't like anyone in it very much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, and Domestic abuse

This has the potential to be triggering for anyone who has been in a toxic relationship. The tone of the book is very much of a victim mindset. The author claims her bisexuality while simultaneously telling an uncle she's a lesbian and calling her f/f relationship lesbian relationships. These are symptoms of internalized biphobia.

leahrosereads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Dream House as Reality.  

You tried to tell your story to people who didn't know how to listen.  You made a fool of yourself, in more ways than one.  I thought you died, but writing this, I'm not sure you did.

In the Dream House is a memoir showing domestic abuse in a queer relationship.  The author describes her trauma in poetic prose that is so freaking haunting.  Every aspect of her story resonated so deeply with me, and there's a reminder here that being queer doesn't make you good or bad.  It just makes you queer, and you're able to fall for the same mistakes that anyone else could - include falling in love with a monster and staying in an abusive relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cursing, and Drug use