I hesitated to buy this book despite its critical acclaim due to its subject matter: a memoir about an abusive lesbian relationship. I was eventually convinced by the intriguing idea that Machado tells her story through a variety of styles –– haunted house story, stoner comedy, noir, erotica, folktale.
The format wasn't exactly what I expected. The writing style remains fairly consistent throughout, lightly academic, without attempts to parrot genre styles. Machado does describe how her experiences with genres affects the way she interpreted her girlfriend's behavior and her own. She is very good (and honest) at capturing in-the-moment emotional responses, and most of the short chapters contain at least one insight.
In the Dream House was different than I expected, but compelling nonetheless.
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