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

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Wow yeah this book is a masterpiece. First off, I loved the format! I liked the one page chapters, and how it switched topics a lot. I like that some of the chapters talked about where she was when she was writing that part. It felt so unique and really grounded me in her life. Another thing I liked was the perspective. Everything it written using "you", which literally places the reader in the author's place, and makes them feel what she was feeling. And holy cow the "choose your own adventure" part was genius. And the pages that call the reader out for not following the instructions were like a gut punch. Also the choose your own adventure format is something that I have never seen in a book written for adults. And of course the most hard hitting and important part of this book is the awareness it brings to domestic abuse within LGBTQ+ relationships. Like she talked about in the book, it is a topic that is either underrepresented or misrepresented in media. But despite that, it is still important to bring attention to.
Also a random thought I had is that it is
hilarious that Carmen ended up marrying the woman in the dream house's ex-girlfriend.

Overall, the descriptions of abuse in this book were just very impactful and hard to read, due to how bad it makes you feel for Carmen. I think this is an amazing book, and Machado is an incredible author.
Read a borrowed copy from a friend.
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