Using non-linear storytelling and widely divergent styles and genres, Machado weaves a powerful memoir about her experience of abuse in a queer--specifically queer women's--relationship, a topic rarely discussed. Machado begins by framing the history of documented relational violence between women and then delves into her own story, giving each chapter a different form--from horror to folklore to academic writing--including footnotes, vignettes, and even objects, to step, pivot, and jump back and forth through her relationship and it's unraveling--as well as her own. The result is a complicated, mesmerizing, unsettling, and heartbreaking portrayal of a relationship, one that takes us inside Machado's memory...and this honest and thought-provoking book is sure to stick in yours.
