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

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

3.0

3 out of 5 stars 

‘Her Body and Other Parties’ is a beautifully written and complex short story collection which has left me with a lot of mixed feelings. The work is very experimental, both in prose and form and I really enjoyed how provocative that made each short story. Each story explores the different and violent ways women’s bodies are exploited, whilst also leaving the reader to create their own interpretation for each ending. 

Like every short story collection, the quality of the work is uneven and the meanings behind each story are differing levels of abstract. My favourites are ‘Real Women Have Bodies’ and ‘Difficult at Parties’. I enjoyed the abstract nature of ‘Especially Heinous’ but given I have no knowledge of Law & Order: SVU and the entire short story is a rewrite of the episode plot summaries it wasn’t the easiest concept to understand. 

Ultimately, there are stories in here which I liked significantly more than others—usually the ones that tread the line between absurdist and concrete in meaning (Difficult at Parties and The Husband Stitch) but the collection is definitely not as flawless as I’ve been lead to believe by other reviewers. I still think this is worth the read for anyone who enjoys complex explorations of feminist concepts and some fantastical, absurdist plot beats. 

I’ll definitely be picking up more of Machado’s work in the future; her prose is too decadent and her concepts too intriguing to not. For a debut collection, it’s definitely pretty solid. 

My individual ratings for each short story are as follows: 

The Husband Stitch—3.5
Inventory—3
Mothers—2.5
Especially Heinous—2
Real Women Have Bodies—4.5
Eight Bites—2
The Resident—1
Difficult At Parties—5

 


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