I couldn’t tear myself away from this poetic, vulnerable, beautifully crafted memoir. 

 

Carmen Maria Machado intimately shares her experience in a queer abusive relationship. Each chapter is titled with a specific trope that she uses to frame her memories and further explore the nuances of her experience with care & wit. 

 

 

Folklore and fairytale references are used throughout as Machado questions the stories we tell, who they highlight, and who they harm. She discusses legal justice, queer villains, and the abused queer folks who came before her and shouted their stories into the void.

 

It was chilling and mesmerizing and expanded the boundaries of memoir-style writing. I was particularly haunted by the Choose Your Own Adventure segment that highlighted the tiptoeing-around-explosive-anger and cyclical nature of abuse.

 

I think I could read this book many more times and discover something fresh with each journey.  

 

CW: abuse (domestic & emotional & physical), toxic relationship, gaslighting, sexual content, queerphobia, violence, sexual assault & violence, mental illness, body shaming & fatphobia, suicidal thoughts, grief, infidelity, alcohol, car accident, fire accident, animal cruelty & animal death