3.47 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark fast-paced
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No

Un livre terriblement dérangeant que j’ai eu du mal à poser, mais je ne sais pas à qui je le recommanderais. Il faut avoir le coeur sacrément bien accroché.

J’aurais aimé qu’il soit accompagné d’un trigger warning, mais pour être honnête, si ça avait été le cas, je ne l’aurais même pas entamé. D’ailleurs j’ai failli interrompre ma lecture très rapidement, dès la première scène explicite, insoutenable. 

Je comprends que ces séquences peuvent participer à l’appréhension de la complexité de la situation aux yeux de l’héroïne, et en même temps je ne peux m’empêcher de me demander si cela n’aurait pas été possible autrement ? Par ailleurs, je suis mal à l’aise face au point de vue de l’héroïne dans ce contexte, non pas parce que cette réalité n’existe pas, mais parce que lorsque ce genre de scène n’est pas décrite par une personne qui a elle-même été victime, je ne peux m’empêcher de me demander si ça ne relève pas du fantasme de la part de l’auteur. Et c’est justement ça qui manque, selon moi, pour rendre ces passages réellement pertinents : ils n’ont pas été vécus (j’ai envie de dire tant mieux) et je n’ai pas l’impression que l’auteur ait parlé avec des victimes ni avec des professionnels de santé spécialisés dans ce type de traumas.

Bref. Je viens de terminer ma lecture et j’en sors lessivée, comme si je venais de faire le grand 8 après un repas gargantuesque.

J’aurais aimé que le développement de la relation entre Turtle et les deux ados soit approfondie, j’ai eu l’impression que tout allait trop vite, que l’auteur nous faisait sauter des étapes.
Certains aspects ne m’ont pas semblé particulièrement réalistes, mais ce n’est pas une biographie.

Dans l’ensemble, j’ai aimé. Parce que je me suis attachée à Turtle. Parce que j’espérais qu’elle allait s’en sortir et j’avais envie de voir comment. Si seulement ça avait été moins explicite...

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
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roxie_m's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 10%

dnf at 10% - I might still go back to it, I wasn’t feeling it at the time since it’s quite a heavy topic and I wasn’t in the right mental space for that

I am going to start by saying this book is not for everyone. I remember the anticipation for this, the hype, everyone's desire to read it and then people being disappointed, calling this overrated. I bought it because Stephen King called it "a masterpiece". It's even written on the cover of this edition. For me, My Absolute Darling is a masterpiece.
It's a tough one and I'm talking about the book and about Turtle. Turtle is fourteen, but at the age when most of us spent our days learning, running along river beds and making friends, she knows how to shoot a gun and survive. She knows how to gut a deer and how to make fire from nothing. At the same time, she is nothing but a scared girl who lives in the shadow of her abusive father.
Martin is the perfect example of psychopath, abusive manipulator who knows exactly how to put little girls in their place. He asserts dominance in ways that even terrified me as a reader. I wanted to kill him, but at the same time I was afraid of what he might do if I even tried. This is how strong of a character Martin is. He seems innocent, intelligent, strong and loving, but at the same time he is a monster, a rapist, a sadistic prick.
Gabriel Tallent, my dear, I take my hat off to you for this narration. The book might feel slow at the beginning, hard to get into, but 50 pages in and I could not put it down. There is no time to breathe, no moment of peace. What seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel is just another truck ready to hit you straight on. There are no ups and downs, it just goes straight into a pit of despair.
Another thing that I love about this is that it shows the victory and defeat of survival. Recovery is a long journey, it takes years, sometimes it feels like you will never be able to go out there, meet your friends again, go back living the way you had and that is the truth. You are never the same, but what else you have left but to try? And this is what makes Turtle such a well rounded and beautiful character.
Spoiler She is so deep in shit, you as a reader think there is no way she will get out in one piece and you are right. She does not, but she can rebuild herself to be the girl she hopes to be and escape the shadow of abuse. Martin can no longer get to her and, although it scares her that she can no longer go back to him, Turtle is also relieved that he can no longer get to her.

I loved this! I truly did. But once again, this is not for everyone. This deals with serious topics and with serious, realistic result and end games. It's not a happy ending, it's a realistic one.

Jedna z najcięższych książek, które ostatnio czytałam. W wielu momentach miałam ochotę rzucić nią w kąt i już nigdy nie ruszać z tamtego miejsca. To jedna z tych powieści, które są emocjonalnym rollercoasterem. Gabriel mimo pokazania najgorszej strony ludzi daje nadzieję na wyjście z tunelu, który wydaje się jedną wielką pułapką. Ponadto dostrzegamy tu siłę umysłu i jak bardzo ludzie nawet najokrutniejsi mogą być dla nas całym światem i ile potrzeba czasu trzeba przepracować aby dojrzeć wszystkie złe cechy człowieka i rzeczy które do jakiegoś czasu tolerowaliśmy, a nawet usprawiedliwialiśmy.