Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

283 reviews

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In the Dream House is a masterpiece. Told in vignettes structured around literature tropes, this memoir follows the rise and fall of a profoundly abusive relationship. Machado is brave, vulnerable, and unflinchingly honest as she exposes the abuse she suffered across a 2 year relationship with another woman. She asks: if we view queer relationships as utopia divorced from patriarchy and hierarchy, are we being homophobic? Are lesbians not humans - complex, hurting, and capable of inflicting extreme harm? If we flatten a group of people into a monolith, we dehumanize them. This book is a necessary addition to the growing work on the incidence of abuse in queer relationships.

I've never read anything quite like this - I loved the vignette narrative structure. The book moved quickly because most sections were short. A couple of the tropes dragged on for me/didn't hit 100%, but I was enthralled and could hardly put it down. A few standouts for me - "Dream House as Deja Vu" (x3), "Dream House as Queer Villainy" (!!!), "Dream House as Bluebeard", "Dream House as the River Lethe", "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure" ...... ok, I have to stop or I'm going to quote half of this work.

Even more wild: I was in Iowa City as an undergrad during the events of this book. Did I see Carmen and the Woman from the Dream House at a coffee shop, at Obama's speech, in a bookstore? It makes me shiver, the ways people suffer out of view.

Brilliant. Carmen Maria Machado is an absolute force and a genius of prose and innovative structure. I HIGHLY recommend this book, but mind the CW's. Machado doesn't shy away from the gore at the heart of her story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Biphobia, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gun violence

ellornaslibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Infidelity

Minor: Death and Fire/Fire injury

mmccue1997's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

sarah_hutchins's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Biphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

beefbourguignon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

hall of fame

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

zerinasahar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

unknowncoco's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

randiroo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse

shmegsreadz's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

a mournful, gutting, soaring reprise of abuse in a lesbian relationship. as a lesbian, neoteric and unwilted, this is the most important book i have read in some time. i am forever grateful to machado for offering me insight into something i’m sure i would never be able to understand unless i lived through the experience, “you can be hurt by people who look just like you. not only can it happen, it probably will, because the world is full of hurt people who hurt people. even if the dominant culture considers you an anomaly, that doesn’t mean you can’t be common, common as fucking dirt,” (232). her prose is warm and every metaphor, reference, and motif is expertly tied to her point. what a beautiful thing; “book” feels like an underscore. this is advice and vulnerability. i will treasure my copy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Vomit

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

one of the most beautiful written and formatted books i’ve ever read. the looming sense of dread throughout as she falls deeper into abuse was heartbreaking, yet she fills the narrative with reminders that she will be free and it will not last forever. a gorgeous memoir.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit