Reviews tagging 'Blood'

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

48 reviews

sadiaa's review against another edition

3.5

The book was Machado's experience of abuse in a lesbian relationship alternating with mini essays and tangents which I skipped. I was more interested in reading about her relationship.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

arkwen452's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Carmen's account of her upbringing and identity even as she is involved in her relationship was raw and unrestricted. I was aware of the contents of this book when I picked it up but there were still things that surprised me. 

I cannot speak on the specifics of domestic abuse history among Queer relationships. In The Dream house is really my first introduction to the subject specifically.

It's an important narrative on the topic and a good book to explore.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

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

cheerstochels's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Fatphobia, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

jazhandz's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

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

ems_book_shelf's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

5.0

This book was a masterpiece. From the start, it was hard to put down. The writing is so lyrical and the way the author writes metaphors for things that can’t be put into explicit words was amazing. There were many parts of this book that dug up past my traumas, put things into words that I have been struggling to myself, and made me reflect on my own thoughts and feelings and remembrances. 

Recommending this book a million times over 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual assault, Blood, and Abandonment

booksandbesitos's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

A beautifully written memoir about an unfortunate and abusive relationship.

The symbolism of the dream house was very powerful and I loved how the chapters put the dream house as different things to explain the story. The short chapters made it a little easier to consume the heavy topics.
Every chapter is like fragments to show  the big picture. I think that other survivors of abuse can also relate to telling their stories in fragments at first. Until you’ve ready to tell the whole thing. 

Due to the nature of the story, the content in the book is very heavy. I encourage everyone to look at the content warnings before reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Pregnancy

abigailstone10's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Blood, and Grief