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

dark reflective medium-paced

3.0

In the Afterword you find out that some of the chapters of this book were previously written as essays for some websites (such as The Hairpin). It made the feel of the book make more sense to know that, so I think others should know that going in.

It's difficult to review a memoir that you didn't like that much. On the one hand, I always appreciate the author's bravery in sharing their story to the public. On the other hand, I can't help it that I just didn't like the book very much. I want to be clear that I wasn't expecting to enjoy it - I knew this was about an abusive relationship so enjoy would absolutely be the wrong word. I suppose the most honest statement would be that I just didn't like the people in the book very much - including the ones I was supposed to empathize with. I'm a bisexual woman too of a similar age to the author, so you might expect that I would find her relatable, but I didn't, and that made me struggle with this one. While this is a memoir and on the one hand personal is expected, I don't want to say anything personal about the author beyond that. It wasn't relatable for me, and I didn't like anyone in it very much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Biphobia, and Alcoholism

This has the potential to be triggering for anyone who has been in a toxic relationship. The tone of the book is very much of a victim mindset. The author claims her bisexuality while simultaneously telling an uncle she's a lesbian and calling her f/f relationship lesbian relationships. These are symptoms of internalized biphobia.