A review by livlamentloathe
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Deeply haunting and excruciatingly feminist -- excruciating because of the depth of the misogyny included; a quote from Machado herself in a Vulture interview best describes it: 

"The problem is that people talk about misogyny like it’s a grand, sinister thing of Snidely Whiplash tying Nell Fenwick to the tracks,” she said. In reality, misogyny is “really boring in its presentation, and it barely makes a sound, but it does so much. It’s so sinister in that way."

Machado's words and allegories were unfathomably poignant in a way that I will be processing for quite some time. I will need to reread some stories eventually because my focus waned a little toward the end, but despite missing some details, I was in awe of these stories. I genuinely don't have the right words to describe how I felt listening to this audiobook. Machado may have just become one of my all-time favorite authors.
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