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challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Medical content
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Sexual content, Murder
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
womanhood is a horror story. that is the central theme of this collection of short stories, molding the literal from the metaphorical. it is violent in its truths about the woman and her choices, her experiences as they differ from her counterparts. each tale is tragic as we know our lives can be. there is no escape, we feel. only forward through the muddy waters.
the first story in this book tells the uncomfortable story of a woman and her husband becoming acquainted, and the overwhelming sense I got from this story was that of loss. the narrator details her encounters with her husband, such as her first time and her entire motherhood until her untimely death. machado easily portrays the sense of loss that women must endure as they mature. while her husband gets all he desires, all he needs, the narrator sacrifices greater and grander parts of herself until her life is all she has left to give. and he takes it. this absence recurs throughout the collection of stories, and it reflects something inside of me that scares me. are we the women, the feminine, the unmasculine, defined by what we do not have or no longer claim as our own?
so the book continues into the lives of many women, many victims and many incidents so easily avoided if not for the culpability of cruel men. the women in these stories live rich lives that bleed empty through their living and telling. every history is drenched in misery and misfortune, no successes or victories to be found amongst them. like life itself, womanhood itself, each character’s story ends unresolved.
though the dampened mood of the stories forces one to read them in a miserable mindset, the writing style is superbly controlled to portray such a variety of sad emotions that serve to further the stories through feeling alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An absolutely gorgeous, haunting, and sensual collection of stories giving form to the innerworlds of queer women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Rape, Terminal illness, Vomit, Pregnancy
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ahhh the innate horror of the female experience- carmen gets it
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Suicide, Stalking, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i’m not entirely convinced i like this book but it is incredibly Present in my thoughts and my friend pearl said this provocativeness was conducive to a piece of art and i think they’re completely right. some of the stories made an overwhelming impression on me and some i can barely remember but it was an out of body experience reading this book and i felt almost separate from myself. some thoughts i had while talking about it with pearl because i think they are the best way of describing how i feel:
- it feels so overwhelmingly 21st century to me and i feel that’s not what the author was going for so in a way i feel guilty for not interpreting it like the artist but then stupid for that because art is supposed to be interpreted by the onlooker but then it makes me wonder whether actually she intended for us to have a collective reaction after all and she’s just a genius at creating it im not sure
- the resident has affected me so deeply i think the line that’s sticking with me is when one of them calls the speaker ethereal because to me she felt almost cumbersome but not in a bad way. it was eerie and beautiful and i cannot get it out of my head
- i keep thinking about how some of the stories were so obvious and some were absolutely incomprehensible (to me)
- especially heinous felt like a mixture of both to me. like it confused me as a concept but it was also weirdly addictive and beautifully done and i keep coming back to it. the almost positive ending felt disjointed in the context of the collection but it was even more strikingly hopeful because of that. i also like associated it so strongly with b99 in this like hazy summer soup of just gotham city energy that it almost removed any law and order intention or themes around it and it was so interesting to see how it affected me in a way i’m not sure it was supposed to (but then again maybe it was). maybe because the city was breathing and bleeding and heart beating so much i felt connected to it (in a way it reminded me absolutely unintentionally of the weird evocative mess of new york and the contrast with the version i read of it in detransition baby)
- real women have bodies had a line about fingers being tied into grommets which was intensely unnerving
essentially i don’t think i liked the experience of reading it at all but i also liked it for making me uncomfortable. i think some stories personally will stick with me more than others and some i will probably forget. i think overall it is very much worth reading just to see what resonates and what doesn’t. a very interesting and subversive debut <3
- it feels so overwhelmingly 21st century to me and i feel that’s not what the author was going for so in a way i feel guilty for not interpreting it like the artist but then stupid for that because art is supposed to be interpreted by the onlooker but then it makes me wonder whether actually she intended for us to have a collective reaction after all and she’s just a genius at creating it im not sure
- the resident has affected me so deeply i think the line that’s sticking with me is when one of them calls the speaker ethereal because to me she felt almost cumbersome but not in a bad way. it was eerie and beautiful and i cannot get it out of my head
- i keep thinking about how some of the stories were so obvious and some were absolutely incomprehensible (to me)
- especially heinous felt like a mixture of both to me. like it confused me as a concept but it was also weirdly addictive and beautifully done and i keep coming back to it. the almost positive ending felt disjointed in the context of the collection but it was even more strikingly hopeful because of that. i also like associated it so strongly with b99 in this like hazy summer soup of just gotham city energy that it almost removed any law and order intention or themes around it and it was so interesting to see how it affected me in a way i’m not sure it was supposed to (but then again maybe it was). maybe because the city was breathing and bleeding and heart beating so much i felt connected to it (in a way it reminded me absolutely unintentionally of the weird evocative mess of new york and the contrast with the version i read of it in detransition baby)
- real women have bodies had a line about fingers being tied into grommets which was intensely unnerving
essentially i don’t think i liked the experience of reading it at all but i also liked it for making me uncomfortable. i think some stories personally will stick with me more than others and some i will probably forget. i think overall it is very much worth reading just to see what resonates and what doesn’t. a very interesting and subversive debut <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This was well-written with an experimental writing style and has a big impact on you. The stories stuck with me. The first story, "The Husband Stitch," was a mix of the supernatural and was about a woman's body autonomy based on the story about a green ribbon around her neck that no one can touch. All the main characters were women that were either Lesbian or Bisexual, and that was that. Each story is such a mixture of the different genres and talks about different things that women go through in this world and the trauma and the aftermath of it.
If sexual content is not for you, then please be aware that these stories do have many explicit sexual scenes thoughout the eight short stories.
If sexual content is not for you, then please be aware that these stories do have many explicit sexual scenes thoughout the eight short stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content