Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - In the Dream House

A book review in snippets of thoughts I sent to my friend I was buddy-reading with as I went:

- “!!! genuinely so good. i didn’t realize it was in 2nd person (or, well mostly anyway) and honestly how did i not see that coming. just Works. i don’t think i finished all the stories in her body and other parties but even so, as much as i was enjoying that i feel like this is even better! also noted the way that even chapters focused outside of “her” are still “dream house as…” painting this representation draped over the whole thing of how this relationship has reflected on/effected her whole life reaching backwards”

- “genre defying and unique and yet makes perfect sense. of course [a memoir] should be written this way. why would it be any different? you can see she is SUCH a skilled writer. i can’t wait to see a novel from her. like holy shit, can you imagine?”

- “i get lost in the pov shifts and it’s all one. its me and you and her and wow. also the footnotes !!!!!!! i am not coherent but wow”

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savannahhs92's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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kylarcahalan's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.25

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katofalltrades's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

WOW. Read this book on a whim, based on the description in Libby and the availability of the audiobook. It felt so important and profound, and sucked me right it. I can’t believe that it was only 5 hours long, it felt like so much more, but those hours also flew by.

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mamareadstuff's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

I would give Carla six stars for this book if I could. Ten? I listened to her read her story on hoopla, but I'm going to have to buy a physical copy so I can go back and underline and cry all over the pages. There were moments so vivid I had flashbacks to my own experience 15+ years ago, so similar, in too many ways to count. This wasn't some afterschool special. This was falling in love and out of love and feeling powerless and somehow, eventually, slowly, finding your power again, trusting yourself again, loving yourself, for once. I don't know that I could have read this book 15 years ago, but I wish that I had been able to read it before... Or maybe I wish that I had been able to reach across state lines back then, and find her, and that we could have shared our stories and gotten each other out sooner. Or maybe not. Maybe we couldn't get out until we could, until we did.

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hannahbanana98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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leontyna's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

This book is amazing. The structure is ingenious and the writing is so beautiful. I really loved the mixture of personal stories and ponderings about queer history.

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