Her Body and Other Parties

Both haunting and mesmerising. I love how Machado uses the weird (and sometimes the eerie, wink-wink Mark Fisher) to introduce topics of complex emotional resonance (i.e. identity, desire, power). This is what I want from all my speculative fiction: to explore the boundaries of the familiar, to peek into the liminal spaces between reality and the supernatural, to be challenged into confronting my own fears. Some of these stories will stay with me for a long while I think.

So thrilling, smart, witty, tender, erotic while being uneasily and spooky. Such an enjoyable reading! My favourite chapter surely has to be the detective story.

Reminiscent of [b:Friday Black|37570595|Friday Black|Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1519263290l/37570595.SY75.jpg|59181816], and I realize it’s unfair of me to say that because Her Body is the earlier work. What I mean is the gimmick: the stories all take place in a reality eversoslightly off-center from ours, recognizable yet alarming. It’s an ingenious and effective device: Machado’s matter-of-fact depiction of daily misogyny, and that world’s casual acceptance thereof, shines a spotlight on the injustices that our world turns a blind eye to.

The stories are hit or miss, but in reading my friends’ reviews I was delighted to find differences of opinion in which was which. Delighted, because it means thoughtful conversations lie ahead from which I may learn.

Scathing and honest, full of sparks

Weird, interesting, mind bending, magical realism, mental health (maybe?).

A collection of astonishing, unapologetically queer, and remarkably crafted stories. Fantastical but not ridiculous or gimmicky. Haunting and horrific and wondrous.

Very enjoyable, eerie collection of stories. I found the SVU section to be a bit tedious, but I appreciated its inclusion.

These stories are harrowing but great. Like I'm not sure I ever want to read it again 'cause the overall impression is kind of... grim? But also I think feeling uncomfortable is kind of the point and the stories are extremely effective.

Reading these stories is like having someone take your skin off, turn it inside out, and show it to you.

A lot of (positive) sex, and inner world upsets to reality. The strong 2-3 stories excel at mood.

Fascinating, slightly unsettling but very well written. I didn't like the novella in the middle of the book, since I was specifically looking for short stories, but I guess I could have skipped it. I'll have to read it again anyway, since I'm not sure I understand even half of it. I did like the actual shorts though, especially the last one, Difficult at Parties. There is a lot of potential for thinking on end about the stories.

A collection of dark and unnerving stories that crash through the borders of horror, magical realism, erotica, and literary fiction to deliver something unique. Many of the stories left me unsettled for days, resisting simple interpretation but nonetheless asking leaving something planted in my consciousness that made me keep thinking of them days later, wondering what really happened to the characters.

Beautifully written, interesting perspectives, very timely. Loved it.