harrimyers's review
5.0
Spoiler
the academic tone that underlined some of the chapters mixed with machados introspection and detail of her own experiences was a beautiful, haunting, and sensitive choice. the tone remained strong all the way through and the choice to advocate throughout this book was done very well. the metaphors, literary choices, and overall approach were just fantastic. the sources she used, the media that she critiqued and used to tell her own story along side of it were beautifully picked and j now have a list of essays, movies, and topics to go through. the choice to format each chapter in short vignettes centred around one theme, motif or technique was brilliant and i especially loved the use of footnotes to the folklore motif reference book, as reading them following the passage only heightened the point she was trying to make. some of these footnotes were so powerful, even if the reference was only 2 words. one that stood out to me was when she was describing her inability to masturbate, and she likened it to the motif of ‘losing magic power’, alongside the themes of sexual relation and her own acknowledged high sex drive and the power she personally got from sex, was a really insightful choice.the last two lines of thr acknowledgement. were beautiful. and i’m so grateful to have read this book
Graphic: Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship
ratatouilllie's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia
Minor: Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Biphobia, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Torture
clichemarker's review
5.0
"It is, in fact, freeing: the
idea that queer does not equal good or pure or right. It is simply a
state of being"
"Your scary aunt said,
apropos of nothing, “I don’t believe in gay people,” and from the
back seat—empowered by adulthood—you said, “Well, we believe
in you.”
"You mention it once, but then she does that thing where she
repeats what you’ve said a few times, each time getting a little more
sarcastic until you apologize."
"It is more surprising
when there is no evidence of a talented man having hurt someone at
all."
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
aquakirst's review
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Bullying, Mental illness, Murder, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
jujuwithbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
ffreyarrose's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
tinyjude's review
4.25
The gaslighting, the jealousy, controlling behaviour, abusive patterns, "happy" moments to overcompensate, the physicial, emotional and sexual harrassment, the consequences... they are all difficult themes to tackle and read, but Carmen María Machado does a marvelous job.
My only complaint is that i'm not the biggest fan of the second person pov in books. Nonetheless, a harrowing, necessary read!
Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Biphobia, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
erica_reads_things's review against another edition
4.75
I loved the narrative style and tropes of the Dream House once I got used to the flow. I really appreciated how Carmen held the complexities of domestic violence and the topic and experiences within the queer community. This text will absolutely remain an important work in queer narratives. So well done.
Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Death, Hate crime, Alcohol, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, and Stalking
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Fatphobia
rovwade's review
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse
charlie_f's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia