My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

[HarperCollins]

My Absolute Darling

Have you read My Absolute Darling yet? Let us know what you thought!

HarperCollins Australia Staff members are reading My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent and will be discussing it in the Sydney office on Tuesday 1st August. The reactions from staff members so far have been incredibly passionate and overwhelmingly positive. This provocative and beautiful book is bound to generate some heated discussion - we can't wait!


A brilliant and immersive, all-consuming read about one fourteen-year-old girl's heart-stopping fight for her own soul. ‘You think you're invincible. You think you won't ever miss. We need to put the fear on you. You need to surrender yourself to death before you ever begin, and accept your life as a state of grace, and then and only then will you be good enough.'

At 14, Turtle Alveston knows the use of every gun on her wall;
That chaos is coming and only the strong will survive it;
That her daddy loves her more than anything else in this world.
And he'll do whatever it takes to keep her with him.

She doesn't know why she feels so different from the other girls at school;
Why the line between love and pain can be so hard to see;
Why making a friend may be the bravest and most terrifying thing she has ever done
And what her daddy will do when he finds out …

Sometimes strength is not the same as courage.
Sometimes leaving is not the only way to escape.
Sometimes surviving isn't enough.

[Shay]

I was excited to join the group and contribute to discussions, but when I looked up this book there were mentions of gratuitous rape scenes perpetrated by a father to his daughter.

I do not have a problem with intense themes, however many people on the Goodreads review page mentioned the inappropriate language that was used to sexualise the victim.

I have not read the book and I don't want to fall into the trap of judging something without experiencing it first hand, however I am completely turned off the concept of reading this. I cannot in good conscience purchase a copy knowing what I will find inside.

Please take this feedback into account when choosing your next book to discuss.