Scan barcode
elwirax's review against another edition
3.0
I speak into the silence. I toss the stone of my story into a vast crevice; measure the emptiness by its small sound.
As this is a memoir my rating is not based on Machado's experience but rather the way it was structured and written as a whole. Please do not take this as direct criticism of how the author has chosen to cope and portray her trauma (despite how contradictory that sounds).
I don't really have any profound criticism of In the Dream House just minor personal dislikes. Something I couldn't really click with was the writing style particularly when it switched between first person and second person. I understand that this was used as a way to put the reader in the author's shoes and while I appreciate that, I also didn't feel connected due to the lack of internal monologues and in depth look into emotions. Another thing were the constant footnotes and references to media. There were clear parallels in say, Stranger by the Lake and Gaslight but I couldn't always connect them with the context of the author's experiences (although, maybe that was just me not looking deep enough into their significance). It's definitely an interesting addition to a memoir but sometimes the book didn't know whether it wanted to me a memoir or a critical analysis/ dissertation on how same sex relationships and violence have been portrayed in media. This resulted in choppy writing that ranged from really formal to rather simple and took away from the flow of the text. I think that while the references added a bit of nuance to the text and supported the author's experience, they also took away from it through the pages and pages of description that sometimes felt like filler. As a side note, what was that mouse stomping scene about and the narcissism after finding out friend's roommate died in a fire?! A bit weird to me.
Nevertheless, writing about her experience with an abusive, queer relationship must not have been easy. Hats of to Machado for writing about a topic that deserves more recognition than it recieves in the media. I also really liked the choose your own adventure part, though that is obviously not as important as the subject matter.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Biphobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
lizlikesfrogs's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cursing, Rape, Biphobia, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
catatlanta's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Drug use, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence
sageysage's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Fatphobia and Lesbophobia
monsterofidaho's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Fatphobia
aproudmc13's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Racism, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Vomit, Grief, Outing, Rape, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Drug use
emilymbrown's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual violence, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
babyface1115's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Fatphobia and Domestic abuse
archaicrobin's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Misogyny
kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia