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

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

Machado has such a poetic way of writing prose, which is one of my favorite things about reading her work. This memoir is written like no other I've encountered, and it's easy to understand why: in telling sharing her own experience of domestic abuse, Machado is pushing against cultural notions that women cannot hurt each other, that abuse only comes from men, and if queer women admit their queer women partners have hurt them, then they're damaging the community's reputation. In the Dream House does an excellent job grappling with All Of That and more. I've read many stories that feature abuse (both nonfiction and fiction) and none have so radically changed my perception of it as this book has.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Homophobia

Minor: Dementia, Death, and Physical abuse