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klsreads's review against another edition
5.0
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.
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
tobooks's review against another edition
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Gaslighting
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Rape, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, and Confinement
Minor: Dementia, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Bullying, Gun violence, and Stalking
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Cursing, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual content, Body horror, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Dementia, Pregnancy, Racism, and Gun violence
kheinekamp's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Violence
neverlandpages4's review against another edition
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.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Rape, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Blood, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, and Sexual assault
Minor: Racism, Sexism, Gun violence, Vomit, Torture, Murder, and Pregnancy
aliced's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Gun violence and Vomit
rieviolet's review
3.5
I did not get along with the narrative structure, I found the rapid-fire succession of chapters (supposed to show different genres and narrative styles) too much disjointed and confusing. The writing style is a bit too much experimental for me.
I liked much more the chapters that were "essay-like", exploring queer history and theory. However, I think that this mixing of informative chapters together with more literary and elaborately written ones was a bit jarring, it felt like two different books mashed up.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Lesbophobia, Body horror, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Mental illness, Sexism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gun violence, Medical content, Drug abuse, Torture, Cursing, Car accident, Biphobia, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Bullying, Transphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Dementia
_chonklord_'s review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
hannibanani29's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Biphobia, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Dementia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit