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A review by bookgirllife
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I had huge expectations going into Her Body and Other Parties. This collection has been praised so highly to me and the themes it explores are ones that I naturally gravitate towards in literature. Carmen Maria Machado blew those expectations to smithereens within the first short story. Honestly one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Her Body and Other Parties discusses the many forms of violence enacted towards women’s bodies through the use of magical realism. Machado writes with rage, heartache, and beautiful symbolism. This is not a collection that tells the audience what the purpose of the pieces, or the many takeaway, was. Instead Machado encourages her readers to interpret their own meanings from the stories she shares.
This collection left me feeling ripped open. I had to take some time to process it before I could write this review.
Machado’s writing in Her Body and Other Parties makes me eager to pick up another of her works. I think that’s the mark of really excellent writing. Machado plays with tone and pacing in a way that enhances the overall feel of each story and the collection as a whole. Her use of language appeals to the readers empathy and makes for a moving experience. I found the writing accessible but themes can often be a bit more abstract, which might detract the overall interpretability of the writing for some readers. Personally, I enjoyed this.
Her Body and Other Parties tackles themes of identity, the body and violences enacted upon it (be it at the hands of others or the self), motherhood, toxic relationships, and the idea of The Mad Woman. All in all, I think Machado does a powerful job of expressing the complexities of womanhood. She leaves the reader with a lot to think about. These themes are explored through the use of magical realism, which I thought drew attention to themes in a subtle but impactful way.
Machado’s writing in Her Body and Other Parties makes me eager to pick up another of her works. I think that’s the mark of really excellent writing. Machado plays with tone and pacing in a way that enhances the overall feel of each story and the collection as a whole. Her use of language appeals to the readers empathy and makes for a moving experience. I found the writing accessible but themes can often be a bit more abstract, which might detract the overall interpretability of the writing for some readers. Personally, I enjoyed this.
Her Body and Other Parties tackles themes of identity, the body and violences enacted upon it (be it at the hands of others or the self), motherhood, toxic relationships, and the idea of The Mad Woman. All in all, I think Machado does a powerful job of expressing the complexities of womanhood. She leaves the reader with a lot to think about. These themes are explored through the use of magical realism, which I thought drew attention to themes in a subtle but impactful way.
This book challenged me as a reader to really apply my critical thinking skills and decipher what the message of these stories were and what I took away from them. Her Body and Other Parties addresses such important themes with nuance, in a way that does a very respectable level of justice to the themes of the stories. I also loved just how queer this book was and the way Machado never addresses its queerness. It is so refreshingly normalised within this book.
The only reason I withheld the 5-star rating from this book was because the story ‘Especially Heinous’, which conceptually was cool but the execution did not live up to it. I did not enjoy reading it at all. I found it boring and far too long for what it was trying to achieve. Maybe if I already had some sort of investment in Law and Order SUV, I would’ve enjoyed it more. As it stands, I skimmed most of that story to get it over with. I might even recommend just skipping it if within the first few pages, you find its not your thing, because it really doesn’t get better. I think my overall enjoyment of the book would’ve been higher had I not attempted to read it. I also think I would’ve finished the book faster if that one short story hadn’t single-handedly sent me into a reading slump.
The only reason I withheld the 5-star rating from this book was because the story ‘Especially Heinous’, which conceptually was cool but the execution did not live up to it. I did not enjoy reading it at all. I found it boring and far too long for what it was trying to achieve. Maybe if I already had some sort of investment in Law and Order SUV, I would’ve enjoyed it more. As it stands, I skimmed most of that story to get it over with. I might even recommend just skipping it if within the first few pages, you find its not your thing, because it really doesn’t get better. I think my overall enjoyment of the book would’ve been higher had I not attempted to read it. I also think I would’ve finished the book faster if that one short story hadn’t single-handedly sent me into a reading slump.
That being said, every other story was really really good and so worth reading. I think Machado is a fantastic writer and Her Body and Other Parties is an exceptional debut. Anyone that enjoys feminist literature, magical realism and a slightly eery feeling to their fiction will enjoy this collection. It is well-paced and interesting. Her Body and Other Parties stays with you after you’ve closed the last page.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body horror, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence