A review by therivingtonreader
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

I'm not going to be giving this book a rating, as I don't feel it's appropriate for me personally to give a rating to this author's experiences and how she chose to express them.

However, I will highly recommend this book. In the Dream House is a beautifully written, vulnerable memoir about the abuse Carmen Maria Machado suffered in a previous queer relationship. She tells her story in such a unique way, and I could feel the heartbreak, hurt, and betrayal come right off the pages. 

This book says a lot about what it's like to be queer in a world where people don't always understand or accept you, and what it's like to be in an abusive relationship with the fear of tainting the reputation of queer people more than it's already tainted. She also discusses the betrayal she felt from being abused by someone who was supposed to be "in it together" with her, in one of my favorite chapters of the whole book:

"This, maybe, was the worst part: the whole world was out to kill you both. Your bodies have always been abject. You were dropped from the boat of the world, climbed onto a piece of driftwood together, and after a perfunctory period of pleasure and safety, she tried to drown you. And so you aren't just mad, or heartbroken: you grieve from the betrayal."