A review by olivemyheart
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

challenging dark hopeful sad fast-paced

5.0

This book was absolutely heartbreaking and necessary. As Machado claims, queer people are people, and that means we can have every experience people have--which encompasses abusive relationships. Furthermore, her ability to understand and convey her own emotions shows maturity and introspection that is truly admirable. At first I anticipated not liking the speculative writing style, but it was very well done and effective for conveying her experience. Here are a few moments that I found incredibly profound (CW for discussion of domestic violence)
Her wishing her girlfriend had been a man so that people would believe her, so her experience wouldn't give the queer community bad rep
Her wishing her girlfriend had just hit her so she would have some concrete evidence
Her discussions of queer history and intersectionality, which showed the depth of research and thought she put into this book
Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I'm very glad to hear Machado is in a happier place now.
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