Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - In the Dream House

A haunting and terrible tale about domestic abuse. Machado writes about her own experience being in a queer relationship and going through the ups of falling in love and finding who she really is juxtaposed with the downs of being gaslighted and abused. It read like a fever dream, each chapter a disjointed exploration of “the dream house.” I’ve never read a memoir like this and is the only book I’ve read of hers, yet you can tell she is a poet because of the lyrical style of her prose. I cannot say I enjoyed it in a true sense, but I think her writing is lyrical, her voice is unique, and that more discussions about same-sex domestic abuse and across all relationship types should be had.

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renreadsfantasy's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

the most creative book i've ever read in terms of structure. each chapter tells the story through the lens of a trope or fairy tale or cliché, but somehow the change of pace every few pages feels completely cohesive.

also as a story of abuse and the way queer people are silenced by society, legal systems, and each other in regards to abuse- this was a hard and familiar read. definitely one of the best books i've ever read, even though it's very different from what i normally read.

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mermellie's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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neverlandpages4's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I have not felt this immersed in a book in a long time. This book broke me down and taught me so much at the same time. I felt like I was there with the author because of the intimate use of second person POV. The intense and honest details of the relationship were terrifying to read, knowing that this is biographical. I don’t have the right words to describe what this book made me feel, but I think that it’s one everyone should read because it’s life changing.

𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
• I’ve already raved about this author’s writing but I’m obsessed with her writing!! I was mesmerized by the vivid imagery and the creative and unique metaphors. I could try to describe how good the writing is but I don’t think I would do it justice. And I loved the second person POV and how it addresses the reader.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬
“How do we do right by the wronged people of the past without physical evidence of their suffering?”

• A lot of this book centers around domestic abuse, psychological abuse, and abuse in queer relationships. It talks about how so many people aren’t believed when they speak out about their trauma because it isn’t physical or visible.

• I went into this expecting a story about an abusive relationship, but it was so much more. There’s a lot about queer history, queer characters, stereotypes, and much, much more. I felt like I learned a lot from this. It immensely changed the way I view so many different things from abusive relationships, to heteronormative relationships, to villains, and a lot of other things I never thought about.

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭
• This book has the most genius format ever. The author was able to capture how abusive relationships are a never ending cycle through the format of this book and it’s one of the most creative things I’ve ever seen.

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madanxiety's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was a well-written telling of a very sad and painful story. The structure of it--these dream house vignettes--was very poetic and interesting. It's important to bring awareness to the abuse that goes on in our (queer) communities. Some lesbian circles can turn very man-hating, which, in my opinion, can be a slippery slope toward gender-essentialism and erasure of the many ways women can and do enact violence. I appreciate how Machado weaves in broader cultural critiques as she tells her very personal stories. As they say, the personal is political.

Since I listen to audiobooks, typically while doing other things, I don't "annotate" much, but this was a quote that stood out to me enough to save it. It's from "Part 2 - Dream House as 9 Thornton Square."

... abusers do not need to be, and rarely are, cackling maniacs. They just need to want something and not care how they get it.

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