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A review by natalya
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
5.0
Anything carmen writes i consume. I consume it the same way i consume an entire bag of crisps on a lonely thursday evening when i get the munchies past 9pm
(i.e. I wanted it really badly, i was satisfied but then i got greedy and ate the entire packet far too fast. I never really regret it and ill most definitely do it again.)
In the dream house is brutally honest and brutally beautiful. You understand every single one of carmens insecurities, thoughts, desires. We are told from beginning to struggling end the abuse she experienced within a queer relationship. I expected to scream at this book and shout ‘what are you doing!!!’ Instead i frowned, i wished to hold her hand and tell her it was going to be okay. That she deserved better. That she’d find better. I understood perfectly every emotion, i didnt pity her.
Abuse can happen to anyone, in any kind of relationship or situation. In the dream house not only tells first hand the experience of a womans abusive queer relationship, but the experience of many un-told stories that had been quickly skimmed over in history. I felt as though i was recieving an education about something i always knew but never had the facts to truly understand. This is coming from someone with an degree in history!
Ive not read a lot of memoir but this book so far as subverted every expectation i had of the genre. Its quick chapters. Pauses to tell stories of previous queer women. Earlier stories of carmens childhood. Some parts i was unclear of their relevance / significance but overall it gave the effect that made you feel like you weren’t just being told carmens experience, but you live it. The use of 2nd person and altered chapter titles feels like a day, a different day in the dream house, each day as horrifiying, unclear and fear mongering as the next. She subverts all expectations, esp 200 pages in when she creates a choose-your-own adventure in her own memoir forcing you yourself to live out the cycles of abuse she encountered (genius).
This book is unlike anything i have read so far this year. Carmen Maria Machado is the kind of writer where everything feels effortful and intentional. I will read anything this woman thinks fit to publish, and I will thank for her for her work which is allowing queer and lgbt peoples to be seen and heard.
(i.e. I wanted it really badly, i was satisfied but then i got greedy and ate the entire packet far too fast. I never really regret it and ill most definitely do it again.)
In the dream house is brutally honest and brutally beautiful. You understand every single one of carmens insecurities, thoughts, desires. We are told from beginning to struggling end the abuse she experienced within a queer relationship. I expected to scream at this book and shout ‘what are you doing!!!’ Instead i frowned, i wished to hold her hand and tell her it was going to be okay. That she deserved better. That she’d find better. I understood perfectly every emotion, i didnt pity her.
Abuse can happen to anyone, in any kind of relationship or situation. In the dream house not only tells first hand the experience of a womans abusive queer relationship, but the experience of many un-told stories that had been quickly skimmed over in history. I felt as though i was recieving an education about something i always knew but never had the facts to truly understand. This is coming from someone with an degree in history!
Ive not read a lot of memoir but this book so far as subverted every expectation i had of the genre. Its quick chapters. Pauses to tell stories of previous queer women. Earlier stories of carmens childhood. Some parts i was unclear of their relevance / significance but overall it gave the effect that made you feel like you weren’t just being told carmens experience, but you live it. The use of 2nd person and altered chapter titles feels like a day, a different day in the dream house, each day as horrifiying, unclear and fear mongering as the next. She subverts all expectations, esp 200 pages in when she creates a choose-your-own adventure in her own memoir forcing you yourself to live out the cycles of abuse she encountered (genius).
This book is unlike anything i have read so far this year. Carmen Maria Machado is the kind of writer where everything feels effortful and intentional. I will read anything this woman thinks fit to publish, and I will thank for her for her work which is allowing queer and lgbt peoples to be seen and heard.