Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

167 reviews

e_reader's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

I loved this book so so much. Machado has such a way with words, and you can tell. Memoir is pretty far out of my comfort zone, but this book put me right at ease. The concept is so created, and masterfully crafts a story depicting her life with The Woman in the Dream House (as Machado calls her). I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys reading about queer history, domestic violence through a queer lense, or just anyone looking for a book that departs from the typical memoir style. I would give this book 6 stars if I could! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

atmreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I know I already listed the trigger warnings above, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to take those seriously. This book is dark, intense, emotional, and deals A LOT with trauma and traumatizing events. I cannot in good conscious recommend this book without telling all of you to keep in mind these trigger warnings and do what is mentally healthy for you.

I just need to say that I LOVED this book. It is incredibly well written, creatively told, and exquisitely presented. This novel is told through a series of vignettes, each one focusing on a different event told through the lense of a different trope. And my god it was such an immersive way to tell the story! Simply reading the header of “Dream House as ____” immediately had me intrigued.

Next, the themes. I know themes are often discussed in the context of works of fiction, but this novel had such great themes despite being someone’s real life. The focus on how abuse within LGBTQ+ relationships is often dismissed because “how could a woman abuse another woman??” I think that highlighting that abuse is not homogeneous and can happen in any relationship of any kind is a really important message to give. And to hear the perspective of someone caught in an abusive relationship who felt trapped with no way out is incredibly important, because I think many people, whether consciously or not, have this idea that if you’re in a bad situation you should just leave. It’s not that simple but to hear and see someone’s real, lived in experience is SO important.

Lastly, the lasting impact. This is a book that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. This book had me crying at 1 am and 1 pm, it had me thinking deeply about what Machado was saying. This is a book I’ll take with me through life, one that I’ll look back to as a distinct point in time. It is truly a work of art.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

booksandbabble's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence

rosalind's review against another edition

5.0

Still 5 stars the second time round!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder

Minor: Vomit

laurenbowes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Vomit

alyylorraine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

hannaheiserman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Lesbophobia

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)

---

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

eoghannnivall's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

embervleo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

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