A review by _becca_reads_
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

her body and other parties - 4.5 ⭐️’s 

this book is a mind bending, haunting, collection of short stories, which focus mostly on serving as an allegorical commentary on the violence we suffer as women and the violence that happens through out our lives to our bodies. The book is fanciful with its retelling of ‘the girl with the green ribbon’ in ‘the husband stitch’. my favourite stories from the collection. machado combination of ghost stories and retellings of folklore within everyday, contemporary life and situations is very well done. it helps with the exploration of complex realties of life as a woman, particularly involving queer women. 

i fell in love with the writing styles of machado - she writes in a way that it lyrical and hunting, which leaves an impression on you. the meaning behind the stories is well crafted, and very well layered. It would be so easy to mess up this idea and the hard topics - which machado does not shy away from when it would be easy to, but mach ado succeeds where many have failed before. 

It also tackles the way that people view the trauma of women and how it is so easy digestible as entertainment. it made me see the svu in a new light. 

machado’s description of the woman’s experience is honest and raw. machado telling of trauma is unflinching, eerie and true. 

This collection of short stories is amazing. 
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