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frenzyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
But that's the minority anxiety, right? That is you're not careful, someone will see you -or people who share your identity - doing something human and use it against you. . . . In trying to get people to see your humanity, you reveal just that: your humanity. Your fundamentally problematic nature. All the unique and terrible ways in which people can, and do, fail. But people have trouble with this concept.'
Each chapter is entitled "Dream House As ___" and the different lens that Machado views the experience through.
Each section can almost function as its own vignettes - some of them even more powerful than others.
The approach that Machado has incorporated here is incredibly creative and powerful in the genre-bending she achieves by considering so many different themes and lens.
For her own benefit, for the benefit of those who have been in abusive LGBTQIA+ relationships everywhere, she inverts the Archive™️ to create her own archival collection. First person, I, refers to the present Machado, who is on the other side of the relationship, reflecting back and addition, second person perspective is past Machado, locked into a pattern future self has already experienced.
Machado is achieving a few things here. The archive is a notoriously guarded capsule of academically approved stories, evidence for consumption. Machado is bucking both the safeguards of a very cis, white heterosexual academic institution. Additionally, she is cultivating her own record for examination of the abusive same-sex relationship she has endured to aid others who have been there also.
Each vignette, from a single sentence to a couple pages, examines The Dream House (the relationship and it's consequences) through a different lens as named. The creativity cracks open memory, storytelling, narrative form.
A modern classic already and a favourite of so many for good reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism and Sexual violence
booksnailmail's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
In the Dream House: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A book for pandemic soul searchers: I feel like days roll out endlessly in all four cardinal directions, tracing latitudes until they eventually meet again at the bottom of the Earth. Maybe this rock bottom is where “normal life” can restart. I couldn’t have read In the Dream House at a better time, as Machado's narrative echoed my current headspace.
What is the Dream House? As Machado's long distance relationship with the blonde woman gets closer (both relationship and distance), there is a shift: subtle at first, then gaining momentum. The woman brings a rage into the house that is a violation of safety and self-esteem. Machado is in an abusive relationship she can’t let go of. The Dream House, it turns out, is a metaphor for her body and mind.
Machado recounts this tumultuous time period in her life with fervor and purpose. This is NOT your everyday memoir. It breaks boundaries in multiple ways - first, the experimental writing style. In fact, there is even a mindf*ck “choose your own adventure” section. Second, the first of its kind to depict abuse in a queer relationship. This is why I cling to the copy on my shelf. As a queer, latinx, and self-identified large woman, Machado has been proving over and over that she is intelligent and worthy. That she deserves what she has earned. So, if she is so successful and intelligent, then how could this happen? How could a wisp of a woman be her abuser? And haven’t queer people been fighting for the right to love forever? It seems unimaginable go abuse in a relationship thus earned, right?
Tackling these questions head on, Machado is candid with her struggle to want to represent queer relationships with humanity, which means showing the ugliness of humanity. I hate to use the word heartbreaking to describe this. Yes, abuse is heartbreaking, but this memoir is about strength. It is the strength in believing your own story. The strength is moving forward from abuse that society, sometimes even your own community, wants to hide. This book exists at the intersection of protecting queer relationships and protecting domestic abuse survivors. Machado paves the way.
A book for pandemic soul searchers: I feel like days roll out endlessly in all four cardinal directions, tracing latitudes until they eventually meet again at the bottom of the Earth. Maybe this rock bottom is where “normal life” can restart. I couldn’t have read In the Dream House at a better time, as Machado's narrative echoed my current headspace.
What is the Dream House? As Machado's long distance relationship with the blonde woman gets closer (both relationship and distance), there is a shift: subtle at first, then gaining momentum. The woman brings a rage into the house that is a violation of safety and self-esteem. Machado is in an abusive relationship she can’t let go of. The Dream House, it turns out, is a metaphor for her body and mind.
Machado recounts this tumultuous time period in her life with fervor and purpose. This is NOT your everyday memoir. It breaks boundaries in multiple ways - first, the experimental writing style. In fact, there is even a mindf*ck “choose your own adventure” section. Second, the first of its kind to depict abuse in a queer relationship. This is why I cling to the copy on my shelf. As a queer, latinx, and self-identified large woman, Machado has been proving over and over that she is intelligent and worthy. That she deserves what she has earned. So, if she is so successful and intelligent, then how could this happen? How could a wisp of a woman be her abuser? And haven’t queer people been fighting for the right to love forever? It seems unimaginable go abuse in a relationship thus earned, right?
Tackling these questions head on, Machado is candid with her struggle to want to represent queer relationships with humanity, which means showing the ugliness of humanity. I hate to use the word heartbreaking to describe this. Yes, abuse is heartbreaking, but this memoir is about strength. It is the strength in believing your own story. The strength is moving forward from abuse that society, sometimes even your own community, wants to hide. This book exists at the intersection of protecting queer relationships and protecting domestic abuse survivors. Machado paves the way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence