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

5.0

easily one of the best books ive ever read. machado just builds the whole story so well and i adore how she doesnt just fixate on the major explosive moments, but the soft gestures of love and subtle violence and mundaneness that show the whole of the story. and the way she speaks about herself in the second person is so beautiful, how shes able to have that distance and reflection and also SO MUCH compassion for herself in the past. the level of vunerability is so impressive and it is so powerful (both for her and for anyone going through something similar) to have such a strong sense of self-love all throughout. theres more to be said about how perfectly the vignette format is used, how rich the subtext is in all her imagery, and so much more that i dont think i can articulate properly. just such an extraordinary book