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My Absolute Darling

Gabriel Tallent (Goodreads Author)

3.63 · Rating details · 32,026 ratings · 5,722 reviews

At 14, Turtle Alveston knows the use of every gun on her wall. She knows how to snare a rabbit, sharpen a blade and splint a bone. She knows that her daddy loves her more than anything else in this world and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her with him.

But she doesn’t know why she feels so different from the other girls at school; why the line between love and pain can ...more

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Hardcover, 417 pages

Published August 29th 2017 by Riverhead Books (first published April 29th 2017)

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3.63 ·

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· 32,026 ratings · 5,722 reviews

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Sep 06, 2017 Roxane rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Given all the glowing reviews and buzz surrounding My Absolute Darling, I really wanted to like this book. But from the first chapter, this book did not grab me. And I guess I am the anomaly, given how much people are rhapsodizing about this novel, which is fine, not every book is for every reader. So, if you think you might like this book, please do check it out!

For certain, this book is readable in that I read it in a few hours. I kept hoping that the amazingness would suddenly appear to me a ...more

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Aug 23, 2017 Emily May rated it did not like it

Shelves: contemporary, 2017

“The truth of you, if it is there at all, exists beyond an unbridgeable and irreducible epistemological gap.”

Wow, I 100% know what people mean when they say they felt like they read a completely different book from everyone else. The critics have been loving My Absolute Darling. All the reviews appearing in my feed have been singing its praises. Stephen King gave it the thumbs up. And yet, I found this painfully awful. On multiple levels.

Where do I even begin? I could start with what I suppose ...more

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Sep 04, 2017 Jennifer Masterson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, favorites-2017, 2017, audio, emotional-roller-coaster, tissues-needed

Bam! All the freaking stars!!! Why do we read? I'm serious? Why? Because books like these exist! "My Absolute Darling" in my humble opinion is a modern masterpiece! An absolute, all consuming, beautifully written work of art! I loved it so much!

I'm completely exhausted. This book was all consuming. I wanted to save Turtle from her monster father all throughout this book. I wanted her to run and get help when she could have. Most of this novel is dark and disturbing but there are glimmers of joy, ...more

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Aug 02, 2017 Paromjit rated it it was amazing

Shelves: thriller, contemporary-fiction, netgalley

Warning: extreme and disturbing material!

This is a psychologically chilling, dark and disturbing novel set in remote Mendocino, California, charting the dysfunctional, an understatement, relationship between 14 year old Turtle (Julia) and her end of the world believer, armed to the teeth, survivalist father, Martin, who has stockpiled dried food that will last 3 years. This book has echoes of Helena and Jacob Holbrook's relationship in The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne, although in compa
Warning: extreme and disturbing material!

This is a psychologically chilling, dark and disturbing novel set in remote Mendocino, California, charting the dysfunctional, an understatement, relationship between 14 year old Turtle (Julia) and her end of the world believer, armed to the teeth, survivalist father, Martin, who has stockpiled dried food that will last 3 years. This book has echoes of Helena and Jacob Holbrook's relationship in The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne, although in comparison to this, that is a picnic in the park. Turtle is a wild child, a daddy's girl, and never happier than when roaming the wild coastal landscape. She is a silent child, lacking friends, and treats with contempt other girls and women, echoing the heartfelt misogyny of her ever loving father. Every morning she wakes up, slings a can of beer to Martin and cracks eggs into her mouth, prior to leaving for school, where she is visibly struggling. Martin is Turtle's world, she is kibble, his absolute darling, his reason for living. Turtle's entire identity is predicated upon Martin's perceptions and attitudes, she knows no other world. This is an intimate character study with a narrative related from Turtle's perspective.

Martin is a pathologically sick, brutal and sadistic father, prone to terrorising and belittling Turtle, and sexually abusing her. He is clever, volatile, manipulative, emotionally damaged and obsessed with absolute control over his daughter. Turtle is his possession, anyone that challenges that is in grave danger, none more so than Turtle herself. She routinely practices her shooting with her various guns and commits to the daily cleaning of her guns. However, chinks begin to appear in Turtle's armour as she begins to become aware that others live different lives, with more integrity and decency, and that it is possible for her to have the potential to make friends and relationships that challenge the way she and her father live. Turtle has a primal need for a separate identity from her father, one that has her taking risks as she reaches for alternative choices but one which drives Martin wild with fear, hatred and cruelty.

Turtle finds her intentions undone when she meets and befriends Jacob and Brett, mesmerised by their literary and philosophical banter, and taken aback by their respect, attention, and the high value they place on her. Anna, her teacher, eventually manages to connect with Turtle sufficiently for Turtle to break the block preventing her from educationally moving on, as she demonstrates her personal understanding of exacerbate and recalcitrant . Brett and Jacob's family connect with and come to care for Turtle. However, these developments bring their stresses, strains and challenges for Turtle. Her unsettled psyche is still caught up with her unconditional love for Martin, which makes moving on excruciatingly painful. Martin punishes Turtle brutally for her infractions and threatens her friends. Full of shame, self hatred, yet determined to keep her friends safe, Turtle makes a devil's bargain to sacrifice herself for her friends and for her father. A bargain that Turtle will break, not for her own safety and sanity but for another, after which all hell breaks loose.

This is a viscerally atmospheric and compelling novel from Gabriel Tallent, taking on the desperately disturbing territory of Martin and Turtle's relationship, a veritable terrifying can of worms. The prose is vital and vibrant, with exquisite descriptions of the wild flora and fauna of the coast. The characters are nuanced and complex, Martin is charming, and with enough self awareness to see the monster that he has become, yet he just does not have the capacity to act on this for change. The trigger for change lies in his beloved kibble, Turtle, but Martin is not going to give up without the fight of his life. It is not easy for Turtle to do the right thing and break the only world she knows, this psychological portrayal feels authentic, change comes gradually, until Turtle reaches the point where she must act, whatever the outcome. This is a raw, intelligent and moving novel that I will not forget. It is undoubtedly a challenging read that I highly recommend. Many thanks to HarperCollins 4th Estate for an ARC. ...more

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Sep 15, 2017 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Update $1.99 Kindle special!!!!! Mixed reviews—I loved it.

The setting of this story is what first interested me in this novel....having grown up in the San Francisco bay area.
The Northern California coast - Mendocino- is one of the natural wonders in the world. It's surrounded by secluded cliff side beaches, bird-rich estuaries, rivers, hiking trails, canyons, waterfalls, giant redwoods, the famous Pygmy Forests of pine and cypress, and it's an unincorporated community.
In the late 60's and 70' ...more

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Sep 14, 2017 Rebbie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017, favorites

There are people who are falsely claiming that those of us who are giving this book a high rating are doing so because we love that it is sordid, incestuous, exploitative, etc. These false accusations are offensive and say more about the individual and their low view of women than it does about anyone else.

Here's the truth: If anything, the book is getting high ratings despite its disturbing content. For proof of this, read any number of the excellent reviews for this book.

Also, it's been said ...more

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Nov 15, 2017 Crumb rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc

Disturbing, Riveting, and Impossible To Put Down
Easiest five stars I've given all year.
This book will take your breath away.

Turtle and her father live on the Northern California Coast. They have a close relationship.. perhaps too close. As Turtle grows and matures she suddenly realizes that the walls are closing in around her and she senses a rising urgency for freedom. However, will her father ever allow that?

Gabriel Tallent is an absolute TALENT (every pun intended). His writing is flawless an ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Jen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My Absolute Darling is absolutely disturbing. And dark. And depressing. Turtle is 14 years old and is being abused by her father - physically, sexually and emotionally. He is an extreme renegade survivalist and has isolated Turtle from friends, from people.

They live in a remote part of California along the coast where she often escapes in order to breathe and sort out the emotional mess and confusion she is gripped with. During one of these escapes, she makes a friend. A boy who is a little olde ...more

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Oct 16, 2017 Julie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, ya, added-by-recommendation, 2017

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent is a 2017 Riverhead Books publication.

Very dark and disturbing, but one of the most noteworthy novels I have read this year!

Despite some very stellar reviews, I waffled back and forth, unable to decide if really wanted to tackle this one, but thanks to my GR friend, Jennifer Masterson’s review, I took the plunge.

I knew going in this story was controversial and perhaps not for everyone. Yet, I still was not emotionally prepared for the intensity of the nov ...more

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Nov 03, 2017 Mary Beth *Traveling Sister* rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Just got back from a Florida vacation!

4.5 stars!!

Turtle Alveston is a survivor. She has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, and is raised by her charismatic father Martin, who is an awful man who tortures her. She is fourteen years old. She is raised with lots of guns. They are all hooked on wall pegs in her room. She has a Lewis Machine & Tool AR-10, a Noveske AR-15 and a Remington 870 twelve gauge pump-action shotgun. Her favorite gun is her AR-10. It is so heavy. Every night Just got back from a Florida vacation!

4.5 stars!!

Turtle Alveston is a survivor. She has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, and is raised by her charismatic father Martin, who is an awful man who tortures her. She is fourteen years old. She is raised with lots of guns. They are all hooked on wall pegs in her room. She has a Lewis Machine & Tool AR-10, a Noveske AR-15 and a Remington 870 twelve gauge pump-action shotgun. Her favorite gun is her AR-10. It is so heavy. Every night she dissembles the gun and cleans it with a brass bristled brush and with cotton patches.

Turtle loves the forest, and roams all over it. She knows her way and meets a friend named Jacob, in the forest.
She is known to go thirty miles across country in a single day. Her Dad says she is part wild cat, you can't wear her out. When she was just a little thing, she would walk all the way to the Little River Market, in her diapers and bare feet. Turtles eyes are cold blue eyes, full of murder and vitriol.
Her mother said that it was a mountain lion that got her that way. She says that she was asleep in her bedroom and Martin left the mudroom door open and when Turtle woke up a mountain lion was in bed with her.

Turtle doesn't like to go to school. Her teacher asks her why she isn't at school and Turtle raises her hands in helplessness and let's them drop. She says " I have tried and tried and I fail, and that's all that I ever do." When she does go to school, she just sits there and stares out the window and never studies. She isolates herself from the other students and struggles with social skills. Turtle didn't believe in herself, she never tried because she was afraid that she would fail. Once she started trying she got good grades.

Martin's Dad was just as bad as he was. He was very sadistic. He was gentle with Turtle. When Turtle meets Jacob, things change for her. He looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. They both have a teenage crush with each other. Her life with Martin, her dad, is not safe and he wants Turtle all to himself. Turtle then starts imagining her escape from Martin.

My thoughts

I just loved this book!!! I do not know why I loved it so much. This is another terrible father and daughter relationship. There have been lots of books about this kind of relationship this year. I have read three of them so far and this is the most darkest and disturbing out of all of then. It is very similar to The Marsh King's Daughter. Both daughters loved and adored their fathers, but this one is extremely dark and disturbing comparing the two. I think a lot of people will love this book and others will hate it. I would start out reading the first chapter and after reading it, if you can get passed that chapter, you will be able to read this book. I think many people will not be able to get passed the first chapter, and believe me if you can't pass that chapter, I can deeply understand because it was almost too much for me. The rest of the book gets better, at least that is my honest opinion but it is a very graphic book. I did like the writing style and thought it was beautifully written but I thought that the foul language ruined it, a little. I don't mind foul language but this was a little over the top. I took a 1/2 star off because of it, and that's the only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars. I thought the characters were done very well. I loved Turtle and my heart just went out for her. If you loved The Marsh King's daughter and you feel you want to go a lot more darker, then I highly recommend it. You have been warned, and hope you can take the plunge, many others won't be able too, and I can deeply understand if you can't. ...more

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Sep 11, 2017 Bill Kupersmith rated it did not like it

Shelves: should-have-dnfed

How did I manage to order a copy of the English edition of this loathsome piece of drivel? It’s a virtual copy of the American version. But it had a different dust jacket. That mattered. As I bathed in the stream of raw sewage that constitutes “dialog” I kept thinking back on Claire Fuller’s Our Endless Numbered Days, which also features abusive father-daughter incest (now, that phrase is a pleonasm!) in the wilds, but is so much subtler and nuanced that for me it epitomized that difference betw How did I manage to order a copy of the English edition of this loathsome piece of drivel? It’s a virtual copy of the American version. But it had a different dust jacket. That mattered. As I bathed in the stream of raw sewage that constitutes “dialog” I kept thinking back on Claire Fuller’s Our Endless Numbered Days, which also features abusive father-daughter incest (now, that phrase is a pleonasm!) in the wilds, but is so much subtler and nuanced that for me it epitomized that difference between English and American literature & culture that accounts for my general aversion to contemporary American fiction by male authors. (Among women writers, we have some equal to the best, such as Megan Abbott.) So imagine my perplexity to find on the back a blurb by Claire Fuller herself: “Brilliantly urgent, brutal and uncompromising. Like a witness to a terrible car crash, I couldn’t draw my eyes away.” Well, I agree with “brutal” tho’ I’ve no notion what “urgent” means here. After I read Our Endless Numbered Days, I sent her a comment expressing a desire for a sequel. But I hope she doesn’t have Peggy borrow Turtle’s vocabulary: “We’ve got to traction my fucking motherfucking goddamn fingers,” she says when she breaks three fingers (later they seem to heal with remarkable speed. Her murderous father’s gun misfires and she thinks: “You motherfucker . . . you incompetent fuck. Probably he’d done a shitty job of retooling the gun for full auto and it’s jamming. . .” Later: “no, fuck that—you had your chance, you cunt, and you’re in it now. . . . Hold tight to the world and do not let this go and do not fuck this up.” That last phrase seems to be Turtle’s most admirable characteristic and were it possible to express noble ideas in the language of a fiend from the pit of hell possessing a fourteen year old girl, we’d have the author’s message, perhaps. I was less surprised to find another blurb from an English author I’d read: “A gut-wrenching, terrifying novel written so beautifully it sings off the page. Unlike anything I’ve read before.” That’s Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat, whose character Gramps is the most evil and disgusting I’d encountered in recent fiction (including the Gardener in The Butterfly Garden) till I met Turtle’s father Martin. Wasn’t surprised, because from her portrayal of America in Red Coat, I imagine Kate Hamer thinks that most of us Yanks are just like Martin, fondling our guns and expressing our affection for our offspring like this: “He drops to one knee and takes her into his arms. ‘Christ,’ he says, ‘Christ, Jesus Christ, kibble. Be careful. Christ, kibble. Christ.’ He drops her and she stands there, her waist encircled by his embrace. ‘How big you’re getting,’ he says, ‘how strong. My absolute darling. My absolute darling.’” He manages to enunciate the messianic title of the Son of God five times in succession, tho’ utterly devoid of any meaning. None of their “foul oaths” (as they would have been termed in the 18th century (in a Guardian interview Tallent says he’s read Pamela) mean anything. While the daughter oft refers to Martin as a “motherfucker,” surely “daughterfucker” would have been more appropriate. Strangely, Martin is also an intellectual autodidact, fond of reading David Hume (maybe 18th-century moralists were right about immoral nature of Hume’s philosophy), using chick-lit expressions such as “have this conversation” and capable of telling his daughter, “The truth of you, if it is there at all, exists beyond an unbridgeable and irreducible epistemological gap.” When I read that, I was about ready to enunciate an F-bomb myself. The other salient feature of this novel is Tallent’s excessive fixation on firearms, far beyond the needs of the plot. Turtle (her real name’s Julia and the reptilian alias is never explained) carries a 9mm Sig Sauer as well as her grandfather’s Bowie knife (how on earth she manages to sneak them into school, where the presence of a water pistol would lead to suspension and a major incident?) which she obsessively cleans even when she hasn’t been firing it, which makes no sense. The denouement depends on Martin’s having a dirty weapon, which I also cannot imagine. But then I couldn’t imagine either why Anna, Turtle’s former teacher who is concerned about her never called child protective services, which as a mandatory reporter she would have been required by law to do. Nor, for that matter, why Turtle couldn’t have saved Jacob and the other students at the dance after party from the maniacal Martin simply by calling the sheriff. The accounts of Turtle’s shooting a .357 Magnum revolver at a roadside sign from a moving truck and a coin from between a ten-year old girl’s fingers with a Colt .45 M1911 (surely an M1911A1 BTW) were equally unlikely. Neither is a weapon that a 14 year old would be handy with - recoil is terrific). What could have all the editors, agents, teachers, Guardian reviewers, and contemporary novelists have thought they were recommending? I haven’t a clue. But I suspect that My Absolute Darling is another indication of the complete moral and spiritual vacuum that we call Postmodernism. The lush overblown natural descriptions of the Northern California coast give readers of “literary fiction” the opportunity to pretend that they are reading “serious fiction” while they inwardly can enjoy the comic-book action of a pistol-packin’ kick-ass teen. As for me, I’ll return to S. Williams’ Tuesday Falling for the genuine article, authentic portrayal of good and evil and moral and spiritual values. ...more

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Aug 20, 2017 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

It can't be anything but the full five stars.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this book might just have ruined the word 'darling' for me. Each time I see it written or hear it spoken, I get that kick in the stomach, the tightening at the back of your throat, the slight tensing of the body you get when you remember something awful. You want desperately to turn away. I have rarely been so overwhelmed with the sheer physicality of my response to a book. I am sickened. I am living someone ...more

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Jul 26, 2017 Debra rated it really liked it

3.5 stars

It's obvious why readers are so polarized on this book. This book is about physical, emotional and sexual abuse of a fourteen-year-old girl by her father. It's not an easy read and many will be turned off by it. Hell, we all should be turned off by it!

Turtle Alveston is a fourteen-year-old girl living with her survivalist father in Northern California (her Mother is Dead). She knows the land and has no problem going out into the forest exploring on her own and is quite handy with a gun. 3.5 stars

It's obvious why readers are so polarized on this book. This book is about physical, emotional and sexual abuse of a fourteen-year-old girl by her father. It's not an easy read and many will be turned off by it. Hell, we all should be turned off by it!

Turtle Alveston is a fourteen-year-old girl living with her survivalist father in Northern California (her Mother is Dead). She knows the land and has no problem going out into the forest exploring on her own and is quite handy with a gun. She can survive off the land, but can she survive within her father's home? A home in which each morning, before leaving for school, she throws her father a beer and let’s not forget in the beginning of the book we learn he puts their dishes out to be licked clean by raccoons before running a little water on them to be used again.

At school Turtle is isolated and withdrawn. She is quiet and lacks friends. She struggles with her studies and although she will be passed on to high school it is evident that she is far behind her peers. Turtle has low self-esteem and self-loathing.

Martin, her father, is a rough man. He refers to Turtle as his "absolute darling" and is systematically physically, emotionally and sexually abusive to her. " Goddamn Turtle, Goddamn” He is a man of great depravity and it is alarming that no one seems to suspect anything wrong is going on in that house.

As Turtle ventures out into the world, she is introduced to many people and begins to see a very different type of life far opposite than the life she has with her misogynist controlling abusive father. With hopes of a better life, will she have the strength and courage to break free and finally be able to live her own life?

One complaint about this book is that some of the scenes to me feels as if they were put in there for the shock value. Abuse in all forms is graphic, shocking and horrific but some of the scenes in the book felt, I don't quite know how to put my finger on it, but something about how it was presented felt off. Books such as "The Roanoke Girls" or "The Marsh King's Daughter" came to mind while reading this book. I feel that those two books were able to pull off what this book could not - a more believable viewpoint on survival-ism (The Marsh King's Daughter) and sick twisted relationships with molestation (The Roanoke girls)

No matter what you think of this book, it has people talking, and I believe that was the Author's intention. When a book causes you to think of other books while reading it; well that can be a good thing or a bad thing. In this case, I thought of books that handled the subject matter better.

See more of my reviews at www.openbookpost.com ...more

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Oct 26, 2017 Marialyce rated it did not like it

Shelves: books-that-should-never-had-been-wr

What the heck did I just read? Why ever would I have decided to pick up this piece of garbage? Truth be told, I saw so many four and five star reviews that I think I probably read a different book from the rest of them. Yes, I could have cast it aside and believe me I sure wanted to. However, with so many glowing reviews, I figured just one more chapter, another fifty pages and I would come to a point where this "masterpiece" would find its way into my brain. Well, that never happened and now I What the heck did I just read? Why ever would I have decided to pick up this piece of garbage? Truth be told, I saw so many four and five star reviews that I think I probably read a different book from the rest of them. Yes, I could have cast it aside and believe me I sure wanted to. However, with so many glowing reviews, I figured just one more chapter, another fifty pages and I would come to a point where this "masterpiece" would find its way into my brain. Well, that never happened and now I get to add this to my files as a book that never should have been written (in my opinion).

Turtle, the fourteen year old daughter of an abusive sicko father, has been abused sexually, physically, and emotionally. She has been brought up to be a survivalist, foul mouthed girl, friendless, doing poorly in school, and alone. She has herself to rely upon plus some "love" from her father who calls her his absolute darling. She meets two boys who befriend her. The boys seem as if they are trying out for a sitcom with their banter and their philosophical loquaciousness. They know something is wrong but hey they don't want to tread on Turtle's space and leave her to the whatever it is they sense is wrong. Turtle attends school where the teacher Anna (yes, they call the teacher by their first names ...so very progressive) recognizes the signs in Turtle that the words "child abuse" could be written across her forehead. The teacher does nothing. Where the heck was CPS? I don't care what you kinda sorta thought, if you as an educator suspected anything CPS should be notified. In point of fact, if you as an educator fail to do so, you would be liable. Oh well we all make mistakes right?

So let's move on from there with Daddy dearest. He so loved his child we keep on reading. He is such a well read man, reading Descartes being his own person and screwing the establishment and really screwing anything and anybody including the young girl he picks up on a "find yourself" hiatus from Turtle. He is vile, but he is able to portray his virility and strength and wow can he shoot a gun! He has turned Turtle into a girl who can take care of herself. What an accomplished father correct? They live in a rat infested piece of garbage house off the beaten track of course and commune with nature. They carry around an array of guns and knives and their morning routine includes Turtle tossing her father a can of beer and she downing a few raw eggs and eating on one occasion as she is tutoring her father's pick up girl, scorpions. Yep, they are tough and mean, and able to take anything.

Well, then enough with the salient points of this novel! In a word I found this book to be disgusting. I am well aware of the perverted nature of some adults who consider their children chattel to do with as they will but I felt this book went beyond that and in a sense seem to glorify the very nature of the depravity that some bear within them. There was the typical excuse of "oh my daddy beat me" as the kind of go to remark one makes when defending their bad behaviors.

Suffice to say, I do NOT recommend this book. Sorry, but the aside to how descriptive this author writes to be is just a cover for a book that obviously thinks itself so current and so in your face. OK then rant over and thank god so is my reading of this book. Apologies also to those who found something in this book. I just could not find one single redeeming point.

...more

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Sep 13, 2017 Canadian rated it did not like it

Shelves: child-abuse, fiction, survivalists, sexual-assault, sexual-abuse, never-again

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Appalling.

After being challenged for being judgmental of people who “enjoyed” this book or who find it some kind of a masterpiece, after whimping out and not wanting to enter the fray, I feel I must stand by my original response to this book:

I find it concerning, worrisome, disturbing even, that large numbers of people should rhapsodize about a book so dark, cruel, and violent. I see the graphic depictions of child abuse--physical and sexual-- as exploitative, part of a wider trend of the sexual Appalling.

After being challenged for being judgmental of people who “enjoyed” this book or who find it some kind of a masterpiece, after whimping out and not wanting to enter the fray, I feel I must stand by my original response to this book:

I find it concerning, worrisome, disturbing even, that large numbers of people should rhapsodize about a book so dark, cruel, and violent. I see the graphic depictions of child abuse--physical and sexual-- as exploitative, part of a wider trend of the sexualization of children in our culture. People aren't raving over this book because of the fine nature writing--they are attracted to the darkness, the sordid details, and the taboo.

I would add: examine why you like this. What contribution is it really making to the world? What is the great statement here? Could it have been achieved by other means?

In response to an earlier observation I made on this site-- that the central child character’s reaction to her abuse (i.e.,wanting to be raped and responding with gun violence)--was not representative of an abuse/assault victim, another Goodreads member sought to take me in hand by (flippantly and dismissively, I believe) pointing out that an author is under no obligation to create books and characters that are “poster children for victims of sexual violence”. It should be made clear that I was not asking for political correctness. Obviously, authors can do whatever they damn well please. However, I as a reader also have rights: including the right to object.

With regards to sexual and physical violence, I believe that authors do have some moral, human, obligation to depict a victim, particularly a child victim, with sensitivity and psychological realism, not perpetuate should-have-died myths or titillate their audience with graphic details, language that romanticizes incest, or exclamations about love.

Turtle, the central character in this piece (and her responses) is/are dwarfed by the graphic, sensational, and frankly gratuitous details of the physical, sexual and emotional violence done to her. To me, the descriptions are exploitative. They read like violent male sexual fantasies—descriptions of snuff film scenes. At one point, Turtle painfully and horrifically dangles from ceiling beams while her father holds a knife to her crotch area, ready to impale her should she drop—perhaps the most violent penetration image in the book, but then again, perhaps not. Even a lovable, loyal elderly dog’s evisceration is described in shameful and horrifying detail.

Wrap these horrors up in what some call “lush” descriptions of the northern Californian landscape, lots of literary and philosophy allusions, and we are supposed to believe this is an American masterpiece. American, it is. Masterpiece, it is not. I don't care what Stephen King says about it.

I am not interested in having intellectual debates with other readers about how the story might have changed had Turtle been given a credible inner life and response to her terrible violation. You can't convince me that the author’s choices were necessary ones or served some higher, artistic goal. I also don't happen to believe that being male disqualifies one from apprehending and sensitively and credibly depicting a female’s response to abuse or sexual assault. However, it is perfectly clear to me that Gabriel Tallent was in no way up to the task. While his bank account may not be suffering for it, his book does. My Absolute Darling is an opportunistic, sensational, manipulative piece. It is not great art. It is not art at all. ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 Julie Christine rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2018, contemporary-fiction, usa-contemporary, american-west

No. This isn't okay. It's not okay to portray unspeakable violence against a child as though it were a thriller novel and posit it as high literary art. This book, with its overwritten prose that borders on the baroque, glorifies the rape and incest and abuse of Turtle by suggesting that the teen might possibly enjoy it, in her confused love for and loyalty to her sociopathic father.

I am aware this book is a critics' darling. It is compulsively readable. Turtle and her friends are impossible no ...more

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Oct 05, 2017 Carol (Bookaria) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2017, favorites

Turtle is fourteen years old and lives with her father Martin. She goes to middle school but is a very reserved child who has difficulties excelling in school. One day she meets Jacob, a kid that is charming, funny and completely lovable. This encounter ignites a spark in Turtle that propels her to question the relationship she has with her father.

Turtle is an amazing character. The novel is narrated from her point of view and the author did an excellent job developing the story and her journey ...more

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Jun 19, 2017 Cathy Branciforte rated it did not like it

Did not finish....could not finish. Disliked this book a lot. I normally don't write about books that I don't finish and don't like giving negative reviews, but with all of the hype on this book, I thought there needed to be some balance of opinions. I really disliked it.....all of the boring descriptions of guns, the long descriptions of everything else. Once I started skimming over entire paragraphs, then pages, I knew I was not going to finish this book. I am sure I'm not the only one.

PS. I h ...more

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Sep 02, 2017 Emer (A Little Haze) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3stars, netgalley, literary-fiction, reviewed, adult-fiction

I often think a three star review is the hardest to write. For me it's a positive rating and should be viewed as a recommendation to read if the subject matter or author interests you and that's firmly the recommendation that I give to 'My Absolute Darling'.

Gabriel Tallent is a wonderful writer. There is absolutely no denying that. However, for me personally this book was too much. I don't think I am the right reader. The novel follows the story of young Turtle Alveston and her abusive upbringi I often think a three star review is the hardest to write. For me it's a positive rating and should be viewed as a recommendation to read if the subject matter or author interests you and that's firmly the recommendation that I give to 'My Absolute Darling'.

Gabriel Tallent is a wonderful writer. There is absolutely no denying that. However, for me personally this book was too much. I don't think I am the right reader. The novel follows the story of young Turtle Alveston and her abusive upbringing by her father. And it absolutely destroyed me in places. The descriptions of what Turtle endured (psychological, physical and sexual abuse) were so visceral. Reading this was like a sucker punch to my gut. But I think the most crippling part of this read for me was reading about Turtle's attitude to herself. Her inner voice was so harsh.
So crass.
Callous...
Her self-loathing was soul destroying for me as a reader to read about. I got so frustrated at times just wishing that she could see that she was a victim. Wishing that she could realise that her life was not what life should be. And I know that this frustration was because of the magnificent way the story was written but I could not reconcile myself to that. I found the language too severe rather than emotive. It simply was not to my personal taste but if you are a reader that can separate your personal feelings from such severity of word then there is much to savour in the prose.

Turtle's world is a supremely isolated one. There are very few moments of true connections when she interacts with other characters in the novel. However two teenage boys from the local high school do somehow manage to break down her walls for a moment or two and it is these precious moments that make this novel sing. These are the moments that truly break the heart because you realise how lost Turtle is. How alone she is. How completely wrong in her beliefs about life she is.

Personally I found the middle third of the novel to be the best part. The beginning, I think, shocked me to my core too much and I was unable to properly pick this novel up for a few days after starting. However, that middle third was where I was finally able to appreciate the aim of the writing. Sadly, I did feel that the climax of the novel let the story down. I was going to award four stars but changed my mind upon reading the ending. For me it felt much too dramatic and almost disingenuous to the soul of the book. I was not a fan of the pacing of the storyline; the first two thirds or so of the book had a fairly even pace but for the climax I don't think the change of pace was handled as delicately as it could have been.

This is a thought provoking debut novel that deserves the hype it is getting. The author Stephen King is among its many fans. However, it is a book suited to a particular type of reader and sadly it seems, I am not the right kind. I would very much recommend it to anyone interested in literary fiction but who has a more suitable disposition than I do when reading a book containing such severe language and abusive situations.

three stars

*A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher, Harper Collins UK: 4th Estate, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.* ...more

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Oct 23, 2017 Vanessa rated it liked it

Hard as I tried I just couldn’t love this book. Heavy on content and heavy on descriptions made this book well....heavy. It’s dark, gritty, grim and depressingly disturbing.

Such as most of the content of the book the writing felt murky. It was well written it can’t be disputed. But I felt almost angry at the author for putting me through so much turmoil and trauma with barely any relief. I guess this was the power of this book but I struggled to want to read it. I can already see that this book ...more

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Sep 25, 2017 Helene Jeppesen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I didn't quite know what to expect from "My Absolute Darling" other than that it would be a heart-breaking story, and it certainly was! This debut novel from Gabriel Tallent is so raw, intense and honest from the very first pages and throughout that you can't help but smile at the appropriateness of the author's last name.
Turtle, our 14-year-old protagonist, lives alone with her father in Northern California. Their relationship is bizarre and stinging; Martin, the father, teaches Turtle to shoo ...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Beata rated it really liked it

This is one of the hardest novels for me to review ..... Honestly, I was about to finish My Absolute Darling after approximately 100 pages. The sheer horror of the story was much too much for me at that moment. Some scenes were too explicit for me Yet, I continued, and I'm glad I read it till the very end. Turtle is a most unusual girl, abused in the most horrid ways imaginable .... and yet, she knows how to survive. She's physically and mentally scared, but she is just a teenager and I hope tha ...more

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Aug 26, 2017 Marchpane rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-from-netgalley

EDIT: I keep going back and forth on my star rating for this book. For me the tie-breaker question is "would I recommend this book to others?". After thinking about it further, and hearing interviews with the author, my answer to that question is no.
______

Having finished My Absolute Darling feels like being chewed up and spat out, covered in muck. Reading this book is a grueling experience, and not one to be undertaken lightly.

Equal parts compelling and appalling, I've seen other reviews describ EDIT: I keep going back and forth on my star rating for this book. For me the tie-breaker question is "would I recommend this book to others?". After thinking about it further, and hearing interviews with the author, my answer to that question is no.
______

Having finished My Absolute Darling feels like being chewed up and spat out, covered in muck. Reading this book is a grueling experience, and not one to be undertaken lightly.

Equal parts compelling and appalling, I've seen other reviews describe My Absolute Darling as "unputdownable". Well, I did put it down. I put it down after a very confronting scene at the end of the first chapter. I put it down for over a month while I read other things and decided whether I wanted to continue with it at all.

Now, to be fair, my first attempt at this book came at a bad time. This was the eighth (eighth!) book in a row to throw a surprise incest/child abuse/sexual assault storyline at me. It didn't matter what genre or type of book I picked up, this streak seemed like it would never end. I don't shy away from such difficult content, but nor do I deliberately seek it out, and being constantly blindsided was just too much.

What's more, Tallent does not elide or obscure the horrific incidents as many authors do, he puts you in the room while they are happening and gives you the visceral details. It's incredibly tough to read at times.

When I eventually returned to the book, I found a gripping story, powerfully told and with unforgettable characters. The tension created is palpable, almost unbearable at times, especially towards the end as the inevitable showdown looms and then plays out.

Many scenes from this book will be etched on my memory. Not just the traumatic ones, but the quieter and tender moments too. It's a feat of writing that the setting and characters are so vividly rendered. But I can't recommend My Absolute Darling without hesitation - its dark content and the ambiguity with which it deals with these themes make for one tough read. Proceed with caution. ...more

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Oct 23, 2017 Chris rated it it was amazing

This debut novel awed me. It destroyed me. It inspired me. Yes, it's the story of a 14-year-old girl, her knife, her Sig Sauer, and her sadistic, survivalist father. But it is also one of the most beautifully written and spectacularly poignant novels I have ever read. I loved every single word. Every. Single. Word.

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May 28, 2018 Michael rated it it was amazing

There's been much written about this book already, and I don't wish to tread well-worn ground. Let me just say that I found it to be an incredibly compelling portrait of survival and coming-of-age: of a girl who is a survivor in the only way she knows how--by hunkering down in her shell (her nickname is Turtle, after all)--until at last she recognizes what she's been experiencing as the abuse it always was.

It's also a book that eschews easy stereotypes. Turtle's abusive father, Martin, is an er ...more

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Nov 02, 2017 Kelli added it · review of another edition

Shelves: stopped-reading

I may be missing out on a masterpiece but I.just.can’t! I don’t want to read another book about a semi-feral child with wilderness skills and a depraved father, and I definitely don’t want to read another book about (view spoiler) this. I struggled with the writing style, from the father’s philosophical diatribes to the descriptions of the landscape, but the gratuitous language employed to describe...well, let’s just say I’m not up for continuing this journey. I stuck with ...more

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Nov 05, 2017 *TANYA* rated it really liked it

Gasp. Gasp!! Oh man gasp!!! 4.25 stars. Um...I don’t even know where to start with this one. I kept putting this book aside, it was nerve wrecking. And it’s considered to be a young adult genre type book!??! Yup, this book was a tough read indeed, it was full of angst.

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Aug 15, 2017 Rebecca marked it as unfinished · review of another edition

Shelves: read-via-netgalley

(DNF @ 6%) Another Samuel Hawley this ain’t. I’d heard such amazing things about this debut novel and was indeed impressed by the descriptive language and characterization. Fourteen-year-old Julia “Turtle” Alveston lives in a creepy derelict house with her father, Martin. Their little pocket of California is their whole world, and they have their own rules here. Turtle knows a lot about guns but not much that will help her in school. That’s okay, because her father doesn’t value traditional ed ...more

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Sep 25, 2017 Kelly (and the Book Boar) rated it liked it

Shelves: daddy-issues, black-as-mitchell-s-heart, denied-the-arc, becoming-groweds-up, crunken-love, liburrrrrry-book, read-in-2017, skillet-to-the-face

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

“I thought at least you could give me this, you could at least do that, but the truth is that you give me nothing.”

Welcome to my favorite week of the year! Unfortunately, real life kind of got in the way and I failed to realize Banned Book Week was quickly approaching until I received the pop-up reminder on my calendar this morning. It just so happens that by some strange coincidence I had finished My Absolute Darling last week and (of course) had not yet written anything down. While not yet a “banned” or “challenged” book, I figure it will only be a matter of time before this selection becomes one due to its disturbing subject matter and the fact that since it is about a 14 year old girl, there’s a good chance young people will want to read it.

What you have here is a coming of age story about a girl who named Turtle (actual name Julia). Turtle is a girl who lives up to her moniker – attempting at all costs to stay inside the safety of her own shell to protect her family secret from getting out. And I’m going to go ahead and spoil this because readers really need to know what they’re getting into here before they decide to add this to their TBR: Turtle’s father is not only emotionally and physically abusive throughout the story, but their relationship is also incestous.

I picked this up because of my friend Jennifer’s glowing review. Sadly, I didn’t have a 5 Star reading experience like she did. I appreciate what the author tried to do, but there were some things that pulled me out of the story – and when you’re reading something that should feel like getting hit in the face with a frying pan for the duration, being pulled away leaves you with a feeling almost like vertigo (which may be beneficial to many readers *shrug*).

So what went wrong for me? Well, to begin with, this needed a heavier-handed editor. As I said before, it didn’t always flow for me. My initial thought was it must have been translated to English due to the excessive use of adjectives and detailed descriptions of the local flora and fauna (and at times, Turtle’s “engorged” bits *eww and also not really an accurate descriptor*), while the actual story itself (which should have been graphically brutal if it followed the author’s pattern of writing) was lacking. Not to mention all the G.D. gun talk. If someone needs to be punched in the face like this one did with the foreshadowing, then they probably should stick to easy-readers. The choice of third person narration with everything being only from Turtle’s perspective was off-putting as well. I think this would have been much more powerful if written in first person. The way it was I had tons of questions I wanted answers to that could have been provided (and I’m usually one who is okay with not knowing every detail). But I wanted to know more about what made Martin a monster. Was his upbringing truly terrible? Did he repeat the sins of his father? Was he simply a bullshit artist? I wanted to be in his brain. First person would have made that impossible and I wouldn’t be griping about it. I also assume Martin murdered Turtle’s mother, but that was an open-ended matter as well. I’ll leave it that I’m dubious she died while “abalone diving.” While I do love the “John Green” type of teenager, Jacob and Brett were just a little too cool for school in my opinion. And then there was the little something extra (no spoilsies). This story didn’t need a kitchen sink thrown in FFS. Not to mention the over-the-top climax and tidy little ending wrapped up in a bow. Some stories don’t need to end well. This was one of them. As twisted as it is, if this was a YA book it would get more stars from me. I enjoy authors who are willing to push the envelope. As it was, this amounts to a decent debut. I’ll be interested to see what Gabriel Tallent comes up with next. ...more

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Aug 07, 2017 Maxine (Booklover Catlady) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-netgalley, 2017-published-to-read

If you read, you must read this book, trust me. It’s unique and powerful.

I have never ever had a book impact me the way this has. I was so disturbed reading parts of this book. It shocked and stunned me. This is not light reading. It's powerful, dark and rocked my world. I'm quite bomb-proof with books but this got under my skin. I can't believe this is a debut novel. The writing is simply stunning, a unique voice.

Marketed as " The Most Talked About Debut of 2017" - I have to say this book was f If you read, you must read this book, trust me. It’s unique and powerful.

I have never ever had a book impact me the way this has. I was so disturbed reading parts of this book. It shocked and stunned me. This is not light reading. It's powerful, dark and rocked my world. I'm quite bomb-proof with books but this got under my skin. I can't believe this is a debut novel. The writing is simply stunning, a unique voice.

Marketed as " The Most Talked About Debut of 2017" - I have to say this book was freaking astonishing. Oh wow. It's like nothing I have read for a very long time.

This is a darkly disturbing book that requires your total attention. The prose is hypnotic and this book had me hook, line and sinker. I felt it revealed its secrets to me page by page and won't ever forget it.

A young woman lives with her father in the remote backwash of USA somewhere. The home is surrounded by nature, her Father is a hard man, cruel of mouth and hand who is raising his daughter alone after her mother's untimely death. This is no easy upbringing.

It's brutal and harsh. Survival skills are taught before schoolwork needs finishing and Daddy pushes her to her limits. There are some dark moments in this novel, scenes that really are shocking and heartbreaking. Oh how my heart was with this young woman, her fight to be herself and have any degree of freedom was pure courage.

The characters in this book are exceptionally well done. You really feel you know them, I could see them, smell them, touch them from descriptions. The plot is nothing fast paced, it unravels and you are gliding along with it then...

Wham! It slaps you around the face.

It's an astonishing book, unique, soul-shattering and often shocking. Don't expect a feel-good book but do expect to read something exceptional, fresh and powerful.

Tackling many taboo issues and not skirting around the edges, I recommend this brilliant novel to anyone who reads. Freaking brilliant and straight into my Top 17 Books of 2017.

I read a copy of this book thanks to the publisher via NetGalley. All review opinions are my own and totally unbiased. ...more

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Vampires, Weres a...: Twisted Challenge: My Absolute Darling	28	26	Jun 03, 2019 08:18PM
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Play Book Tag: My Absolute Darling - Gabriel Tallent - 5 stars	9	37	Feb 23, 2018 08:27PM
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