Gabriel Tallent

"One of the most momentous debuts in years: A transcendent novel that strikes a deep emotional chord, My Absolute Darling combines a page-turning female survival story, an arresting use of language, and a heart-wrenchingly powerful redemptive arc"--

My Absolute Darling

Megan Parrott

It took me awhile to fully digest this book and honestly, it feels a little icky to have enjoyed it so much. The depictions of the abuse Turtle suffers are emotionally draining and, at times, grossly over-romanticized. But I couldn’t stop reading because her journey is compelling and so richly described. It’s one of those books you wish you could experience for the first time again.

Ryan Mateyk

This book was absolute trash. It's about a girl named Turtle who lives with her extremely abusive father in California, and is somewhat a coming-of-age story. The behaviour of these characters, especially the dialogue, is absolutely insane and it makes me feel that this author has never met a real teenager, or just any actual human being for that matter, in his life. One character says this actual line: 

"You don't have to hate him. But you might probably should really possibly think about leaving."

What in the English language hell?!? This is just one example. There are MANY others, including a 10 year old girl name dropping Virginia Woolf? The sociopathic father going on weird long rants because he reads philosophy, immediately followed by calling his daughter a cunt and a slut? And the way these people behaved/ the random story threads throughout this book! Just completely inexplicable. And Turtle seems to only eat raw eggs.. I.. just... 

Another issue - what is with the gun and nature obsessions? We GET it. They had a lot of guns and liked to shoot them. They grew up surrounded by nature. I didn't need to be reminded of it on every. single. page. 

But the biggest issue, as mentioned in many other reviews, is the completely inappropriate approach to the main subject matter of this whole book, which is the sexual abuse. It was handled without an ounce of delicacy! It was scene upon scene of unjustified graphic descriptions of violence that everyone could have gone without reading. I understand the purpose of these (building hatred towards the father, understanding Turtle's situation), but I don't think this was the responsible way to go about such a serious subject.

I really was hating it early on (the first chapter ends with a graphic rape), but I kept hanging on because of the 5 star reviews. In the end it was not worth it for me, but if you like to endlessly shake your head or roll your eyes so far up into your head that they're lost forever, give it a try!

Colton Ray

I was looking forward to this and was not only disappointed but actively disliked both the content and the writing style. In addition to cringy dialogue and unrealistic young characters, the constant swearing, incest, and violence felt gratuitous and smutty. Not recommended at all.

A heartstopping, beautifully written debut, telling the story of one girl's search for freedom. '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.

Hannah Swithinbank

Compelling but repulsive. A bit like I’d imagine a novel by Holden Caulfield to be, with more going on up on top than underneath.

Aine Meehan

This was so beautifully written. I can't believe it was a first novel. The author is extremely talented. His use of description in particular of nature was just beautiful. In juxtaposition was the difficult subject. This book is a hard read because of the subject matter but in a way it is uplifting.

This novel was an experience - dark, upsetting, shocking, very 

Georgie Wishart

This novel was an experience - dark, upsetting, shocking, very gripping. 

One of the most disturbing things I’ve ever read. So challenging to get through, but I think it was worth it?? 

Some sections felt too wordy and long winded, but it was a welcome reprieve from the other disturbing content. 

Summer Stanley

One of the most disturbing things I’ve ever read. So challenging to get through, but I think it was worth it?? 
Some sections felt too wordy and long winded, but it was a welcome reprieve from the other disturbing content. 




Antonella Romani

I really need to get over my issues with DNF'ing books...
This book was horrible.
I HATE THIS BOOK.
Subject matter is just plain disgusting. Child abuse is hard to write or read, but there are so many better ways to write about it than this. This book was not given the sensitivity it needed and instead made worse with overly gratuitous scenes and details.
I have many, so I'm only listing my 3 biggest issues with this book:
1.) None of the adults in her life who knew or suspected what was happening ever did anything at all to help her.
2.) How sexual abuse, from her father, was written making it seem like the victim actually enjoyed it rather than her being (systemically) conditioned that way.
3.) The writing is atrocious. I understand that part of the book is narrated by an uneducated 14 year old, even though it reads as even younger than that, but the whole book? This book seriously makes me question the author's abilities. 
I only have myself to blame for finishing this book.
It soo wasn't worth it.

Laura

So. Has Gabriel Tallent ever interacted with another human before in his life? I mean, forget about teenage girls- it’s fairly obvious that he’s never been one nor talked to one before ever (source: once having been a teenage girl)- but the rest of his characters are just as bad as Turtle.

In fact, you know the uncanny valley phenomena? That’s the feeling I got while reading. The characters are human, and the story is meant to be realistic, but there’s something lacking about it. One of the best examples of this is the way the two teenage boys speak. One speaks the way a shitty sitcom might have shown a teenage boy talking- complete with the 5 years out of date slang- and the other reads like a parody of a John Green hero. Perhaps Tallent was an isolated home schooled kid when he was young. Or maybe that’s how all Californians act and I’m the one who’s strange. I mean, I’m from the east coast, I’m probably the worst person in the world to ask about the way Californians act.

But that’s not the only “off” feeling I had about Tallent’s writing. Normally, with writers, even writers I don’t particularly care for, I feel something in their writing that tells me that this person loves what they do. I did not feel that at all with My Absolute Darling. In fact, I wonder what originally drew him to writing, though I can imagine him being the kind of person who was told his entire life that he was fantastic at writing to the point where, when he found himself without anything more to do, decided “what the hell, I’ll write a book.”

It’s funny, too, one of the questions that readers had for this novel on Goodreads is “Why does an adult white man think he can write about the sexual abuse and spiritual coming of her own about a teenage girl?” Now, normally I reject that idea because I believe that you should be allowed to be able to write whatever the hell you want, but in this case I can actually see her point. Why did Tallent think he could write from the point of view of a teenage girl with an unstable father when he doesn’t even understand how humans function let alone girls? 

On the surface, this novel reminded me of History of Wolves, another 2017 lit fic release. I didn’t love that novel either, but it was able to connect with me a lot more than this one. It wasn’t particularly realistic either, but at least I understood where it was going and the points it was trying to make. And the main character was a better teenage girl than Turtle ever was. 

In Tallent’s credit, he can turn a pretty phrase. The writing style was original and fit the mood that Tallent was trying to create. Though it could be a bit more rough- perhaps he should take lessons from some of the Scandinavian writers, who can do that dark, minimalist, rough around the edges style that would be perfect for this novel.

I can’t say that I actually liked My Absolute Darling all that much, nor can I say that I hated it outright. It was a good idea for a book, but I don’t think it got the best treatment. Perhaps it was too ambitious for a debut author to undertake and that’s why it ultimately failed, perhaps it should have been regulated to short story status. In fact, I think that’s what Tallent should have done, as with a full length novel, the many flaws in his writing can’t be hidden.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST NBCC JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FINALIST ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017 ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST’S MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017 ONE OF NPR’S ‘GREAT READS’ OF 2017 A USA TODAY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR AN AMAZON.COM BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A BUSINESS INSIDER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Impossible to put down." —NPR "A novel that readers will gulp down, gasping.” —The Washington Post "The word 'masterpiece' has been cheapened by too many blurbs, but My Absolute Darling absolutely is one." —Stephen King A brilliant and immersive, all-consuming read about one fourteen-year-old girl's heart-stopping fight for her own soul. Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At fourteen, she roams the woods along the northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous: Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father. Then Turtle meets Jacob, a high-school boy who tells jokes, lives in a big clean house, and looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. And for the first time, the larger world begins to come into focus: her life with Martin is neither safe nor sustainable. Motivated by her first experience with real friendship and a teenage crush, Turtle starts to imagine escape, using the very survival skills her father devoted himself to teaching her. What follows is a harrowing story of bravery and redemption. With Turtle's escalating acts of physical and emotional courage, the reader watches, heart in throat, as this teenage girl struggles to become her own hero—and in the process, becomes ours as well. Shot through with striking language in a fierce natural setting, My Absolute Darling is an urgently told, profoundly moving read that marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

A Novel

Jessica Probert

Sadie Kimbrough

Olivia

Lizelle G

Kelci

Thomas clegg

Caroline Oestergaard

Emily

Michelle

Diabla 

A quatorze ans, Turtle Alveston arpente les bois de la côte nord de la Californie avec un fusil et un pistolet pour seuls compagnons. Elle trouve refuge sur les plages et les îlots rocheux qu'elle parcourt sur des kilomètres. Mais si le monde extérieur s'ouvre à elle dans toute son immensité, son univers familial est étroit et menaçant : Turtle a grandi seule, sous la coupe d'un père charismatique et abusif. Sa vie sociale est confinée au collège, et elle repousse quiconque essaye de percer sa carapace. Jusqu'au jour où elle rencontre Jacob, un lycéen blagueur qu'elle intrigue et fascine à la fois. Poussée par cette amitié naissante, Turtle décide alors d'échapper à son père et plonge dans une aventure sans retour où elle mettra en jeu sa liberté et sa survie. My Absolute Darling a été le livre phénomène de l'année 2017 aux Etats-Unis. Ce roman inoubliable sur le combat d'une jeune fille pour devenir elle-même et sauver son âme marque la naissance d'un nouvel auteur au talent prodigieux.

My Absolute Darling

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