Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

100 reviews

theknm's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

This memoir was beautifully written and Carmen voice was all throughout the book. It's so sad that Dream House girl didn't take any accountability for her actions, always blamed her and even physically abused her- im glad carmen was able to get out of that and rediscover herself again. She mentioned a lot of queer work in this book which was very informative cause I really didn't know they existed. There were a few moments that were hard to read but it was essentially for how this relationship was. I feel like i related to Carmen cause especially in that deep rooted relationship you always try to make it work and try to blame yourself for their actions - i did that a lot with ex so I felt her pain a lot. Def recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

ewwa18's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Blood

mpeach's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Alcohol

krmreads2024's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Lesbophobia

rafdee13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

Domestic violence is difficult to write about coherently. Nevermind the complications of lesbian domestic violence In a system that perpetuates the invisibility of both. This book serves as a witness and a warning, and is beautifully written to boot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

droggelbecher42's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

Very unique writing style.
The many short vignettes showcasing different moments of her life and her relationship with the dream house woman partly through layered metaphors worked very well for me.
Particularly loved the use of footnotes and I'm glad that I didn't opt for the audiobook because they apparently omit them.
Will probably reread this at some point, I think it's a book that might profit from a reread, going in with all the information you have from the first read through

 

The repetition of "Deja Vu" sections and the choose your own adventure chapter were very haunting highlights of the book.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

chrisnglaser's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

standardchaos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

lpogo16's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Machado had a lot of courage in talking about her story and a lot of heart in telling the story of other queer women. This book really opened my eyes to a topic I never thought to look at head on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, and Dementia

The vibe of this book is really sad. The energy is very depressing though it does take a hopefully turn at the end.

klsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In the Dream House is a masterpiece. Told in vignettes structured around literature tropes, this memoir follows the rise and fall of a profoundly abusive relationship. Machado is brave, vulnerable, and unflinchingly honest as she exposes the abuse she suffered across a 2 year relationship with another woman. She asks: if we view queer relationships as utopia divorced from patriarchy and hierarchy, are we being homophobic? Are lesbians not humans - complex, hurting, and capable of inflicting extreme harm? If we flatten a group of people into a monolith, we dehumanize them. This book is a necessary addition to the growing work on the incidence of abuse in queer relationships.

I've never read anything quite like this - I loved the vignette narrative structure. The book moved quickly because most sections were short. A couple of the tropes dragged on for me/didn't hit 100%, but I was enthralled and could hardly put it down. A few standouts for me - "Dream House as Deja Vu" (x3), "Dream House as Queer Villainy" (!!!), "Dream House as Bluebeard", "Dream House as the River Lethe", "Dream House as Choose Your Own Adventure" ...... ok, I have to stop or I'm going to quote half of this work.

Even more wild: I was in Iowa City as an undergrad during the events of this book. Did I see Carmen and the Woman from the Dream House at a coffee shop, at Obama's speech, in a bookstore? It makes me shiver, the ways people suffer out of view.

Brilliant. Carmen Maria Machado is an absolute force and a genius of prose and innovative structure. I HIGHLY recommend this book, but mind the CW's. Machado doesn't shy away from the gore at the heart of her story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis