Her Body and Other Parties: Stories in Around the Year in 52 Books

Sep 09, 2019 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: wouldnt-normally-read, fiction, literary-schmiterary, ohno-its-magical-realism, fantasy-and-sci-fi, short-stories, all-time-favorites, women-on-the-edge

What is worse: being locked outside of your own mind, or being locked inside of it?

What is worse: writing a trope or being one? What about being more than one?

Wow. This is an incredibly powerful collection, with fierce feminist undertones, overtones, and other tones, but it’s also very sad.

The Husband Stitch confused me. I was left feeling profoundly moved but also disturbed, and not completely sure why I felt either emotion. (Well, some disturbing parts (view spoiler) ...more

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Nov 21, 2017 Jason McKinney rated it liked it

3 1/2 stars.

While I thought it was overrated there's still a lot to like here. My favorites, "The Husband Stitch" and "The Resident" were the creepiest but all of the stories are skin-crawlers in their own way. I thought the "Law and Order" homage (Especially Heinous) was a good idea but went on way too long and the final story, "Difficult at Parties" was a bit of a puzzler for me until I read some of the reviews and got a better idea of what was going on. ...more

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Oct 31, 2019 Marin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: short-stories, horror, npr-top-100-horror, alternate-retelling

I was really stuck on whether to give this 4 or 5 stars. I tend to reserve 5 stars for books that I think everyone should read, and this doesn't fit that. On the other hand, the story premises here are really unusual, and the writing is so good I kept kicking myself for not reading this on Kindle because there were so many things I wanted to highlight and share.

This is a collection of eight short(ish) horror stories about women. Or, with women as main characters, anyway. The stories got stronge ...more

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Oct 12, 2017 Ghoti added it · review of another edition

Machado's stories remind me of paintings, washes of colour building up to evoke intense emotion. I heartily recommend. ...more

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May 28, 2021 John Warner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, magical-realism, short-stories, lgbtq, sexuality

Generally, I don't read short stories, but this author's works was compared to Karen Russell whose work I enjoy. This wild compilation of eight stories is a debut collection although individually several have previously been published in periodicals.

The two I enjoyed most were "The Husband Stitch" and "Inventory." The former involved a woman who before she was married had two rules for her dates: one, her sexual partner can not finish inside her and, two, he can not touch the green ribbon, whic ...more

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Mar 21, 2020 Richard rated it it was amazing

This is maybe the most memorably set of short stories I’ve ever read. She’s taken a huge world of horror and myth and fantasy tropes and strained them through the sieve of a queer woman of color in a way that’s always fresh and never forced or cliche. I couldn’t believe how each story felt like a bolt from the blue but was composed of familiar ideas. This book deserves every accolade including new ones made just for it.

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Jun 28, 2020 Jesse rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20-word-reviews

Interesting stories, the author's strong feminism very well represented. The ribbon story stands out as the best of the group. ...more

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Feb 17, 2024 Chelsea rated it liked it · review of another edition

This collection of genre-bending short stories started off with a bang! I loved “The Husband Stitch” but was then disappointed by all the law & order mini episode descriptions. Others were less memorable, but engaging while I read them. So it was uneven for me but I did appreciate the focus on the ways women’s bodies are commodified, possessed, and mistreated. I am giving this a pick because I’m not sure I’ll forget about that ribbon!

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