Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado

27 reviews

yaoipaddle's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Average rating: 2.6
Read this very spaced out because you may tire of the author's writing style SO FAST. I loved the Husband Stitch when I read it online, so I was excited to read an entire book by the same author. Big mistake. She struggles to end even her most interesting stories well and the sheer amount of sexual content is exhausting when you read the stories back to back.

The Husband Stitch - 5 stars
One of my fave short stories. I had read it twice on its own before finding it in this book.
Every time I read it I have new thoughts on it. All time top story.

Inventory - 4 stars
Very interesting to read after COVID. Short and easy to read.

Mothers - 1 star
Useless. Truly dogshit.

Especially Heinous - 2 stars
IDK if it was supposed to emulate this weird perversion society has with Law & Order SVU. If that was the case it succeeded. It dragged on and the ending was so lame.

Real Women Have Bodies - 3 stars
By this point I was dead tired of the author's writing style. I liked the premise but the ending yet again was a let down.

Eight Bites - 2 stars
I felt nothing about this. The commentary was shallow.

The Resident - 1 star
This took me so long to read because I barely wanted to get through this crap story. I was exhausted by the author's writing style and I found the main character loathsome. I could write a better feminist short story in high school than 'The Resident'.

Difficult at Parties - 3 stars
I will reread this one at a later time. I think it was just OK. I am so tired of the author though that I don't think I could appreciate this story as much as I would on a reread in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Alcohol, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Injury/injury detail, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Suicide, Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Grief, Sexual assault, Medical content, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Stalking, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

ytmsoba's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Grief, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

joppiereading's review against another edition

Short story collections are a hit or miss for me. 

If this were a physical book, I would skip ahead until I got to a story that was no longer about

Spoiler

Law and Order

. It is too repetitive and absurd in audio form. 

But I adored the first stories, especially the story about the ribbon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gore, Body horror, Rape, Gaslighting, Sexism, Child death, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Death, and Body shaming

doomluz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A strong collection of short stories. My favorites were “The Husband Stitch”, “Eight Bites”, “Real Women Have Bodies” and “The Resident”. I love how the stories feel both ethereal and grounded.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Body horror, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Gore, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Body horror, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Death, Violence, Injury/injury detail, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Abandonment, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Incest, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, and Child abuse

Illness outbreak, epidemic ("Inventory"). Unreality ("Especially Heinous"). Insects ("Eight Bites," "The Resident"). Illness ("The Resident").

dromedaryreader's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved some of the stories in this book. Others seemed lazy and were too caught up in small details to work as a short story. Eight Bites, Mothers, Difficult At Parties, and The Husband Stitch were my personal favorites. Inventory and The Resident were alright. I was not a fan of Real Women Have Bodies or Especially Heinous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Medical content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide

itsheyfay's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Eating disorder, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Rape, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Physical abuse, and Sexism

apricotlashes's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very good writing and overall I enjoyed it but there's a lot that can be difficult to get through depending on your personal experiences. There's a good variety of content between stories while still encompassing the same or similar themes. I wish I were smarter to write a better review because it gloriously captures the female experience but alas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

oribee25's review

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Rape, Sexual content, and Sexism

travelseatsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's hard to put into words just how striking Carmen Maria Machado's writing is. I read In The Dream House at the start of the year & was left bereft yet craving more. I wanted to immediately dive into Her Body & Other Parties but waited a few months as I wanted to appreciate it in its own right & in its entirety. 

 

What I found in the pages behind the striking cover was another world of brilliance which captured my imagination fully & left me wondering with every carefully chosen word. 

 

As with any collection of short stories some will have more resonance than others with every reader but overall I found that even if I didn't necessarily 'enjoy' each short story while reading, every single one left me pondering for quite some time after. The perfect example of this was Especially Heinous which felt almost a little bit tedious at times as I was going through the individual episodes, but eventually unfurled into a creepy & oppressive portrayal of the indeed tedious, relentless & pervasive acts of violence against women. 

 

In all honesty there isn’t a story within the collection that didn’t leave some kind of a mark on me or didn’t leave me sitting struck & deep in thought but some of my favourites which really struck a chord with their brutality & honesty were The Husband Stitch, Inventory, Real Women Have Bodies, The Resident & Difficult At Parties. 

 

The whole book is bursting full of so many moments and quotes to relish, digest and just linger on that I’ll definitely be buying a physical copy to reread and devour again and again. I rarely buy books due to fortunately receiving ARCs & having the use of a fantastic library system but I need, not even just want, to have a copy of Her Body & Other Parties on my shelf to return to. 

 

Carmen Maria Machado is a writer like no other & Her Body & Other Parties conveys her innate ability to write pieces which are visceral, haunting, brutal & deeply thought-provoking. 

 

Powerful, surreal and simply stunning. 

 

(It is a book I want to recommend to everyone but due to its dark thematic nature & at times perplexing story arcs I can admit it may not be for everyone so I’ve included TW in comments & happy to chat about these if you’re considering reading it.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Blood, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Death, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment