Reviews tagging 'Incest'

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

78 reviews

stacey_lynneburger's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

teadragon's review against another edition

I firmly believe that the author has never talked to a teenager nor a rape victim.  The dialog throughout the 301 pages I read was unrealistic.  I was absolutely disgusted at how he describes the rape scenes.  It was like he was writing scenes for a romance novel, not about incest between a daughter and her father.  Could not finish.  Made my blood boil.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Alcohol

quileee's review against another edition

dark emotional

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

mi_chellewong's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the most gut-wrenching book i’ve read in a really long time. this book actually insane.

turtle’s stockholm syndrome combined with the utter terror of a monster that is her father make this book so incredibly terrifying and sad

and yet i could not put it down because i needed to know that turtle would be okay. the way tallent writes turtle’s thoughts and how she

begins to reshape her beliefs

is so beautifully and tragically done. the two things i would say about this book- i feel like the last chapter was missing something. maybe it’s my own want for a tidy ending but even then it felt like it left too many things unsaid. also, what high schooler talks like brett and jacob do 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

lyndseylibros's review against another edition

Nope nope nope. Can’t listen to incest. This book made me ill

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Rape, and Sexual content

amessina3399's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Wow. What beautiful language, and what a masterfully told and utterly heart wrenching tale. While not told in the first person, this story paints  such a viscerally clear picture of what it’s like being in an abusive relationship, and why it can be so hard to leave. The only thing stopping me from giving a full 5 stars is the ending—it was a great ending, don’t get me wrong, but it left a lot of holes open that were set up earlier in the book to seemingly be revisited. So while I was disappointed with its conclusion, it was overall a fantastic read that I highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

chewy__stuff's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

greenwillow77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When I pick up a book for the first time, I have a routine- I read the back cover, see if I like the idea of the book; then a random page or two to see if the writing interests me; then the inside front pages to see if there are interesting pull quotes, then I skim the author bio if there is one, because sometimes it will offer a crumb of information about the person the author wants to appear as to you. In the case of this book, my edition opens with the fact the author was “raised by two mothers.” That’s sweet, right? It’s hardly unusual now, but it’s nice to see he credits his parents enough to mention them first, & f’ yeah for visibility. 

Then I read the book, & I realised why this fact above all others would be what stuck like a splinter in my brain. There is no way to sugarcoat or avoid the violent, monstrous misogyny in the language & abusive behaviour that Turtle both lives with & has internalised. Even as she grows more & more aware of it, it rushes out of the story in punishing current that hurls you towards an ending that looms with the inevitability of a tsunami. 

It would be easy for me to tell you how appalling Turtle’s father is in intricate & fine detail, but like true crime finding delight in the supposed intricacies of the crimes of men who kill women, his humanity, grief, his ability to see the environmental disaster the world faces, feel like giving him credit he doesn’t deserve. 

& perhaps that is the skill here, to take someone who ultimately deserves everything he gets, & occasionally think he might have a microcopic glimmer of humanity. To take a story of unrelenting,  visceral, hardship & abuse, & set it against a landscape that shimmers with beauty. Nature is not kind, but it is gorgeous. Above all, that kept me reading through the darkness & grinding cruelty even as Turtle begins to resist her father’s rule. 

The are echoes of “The Wasp Factory” here, & hints of “Deliverance” (which is name checked in the text, very meta.) This is a genuinely well written book, I can’t argue with the skill or the story telling even when it stumbles- the romantic plot feels clumsy but perhaps that is more down to reflecting on Turtle’s own inexperience. What I can’t reconcile in myself is that this is a story written by a man, about the graphic abuse & isolation of a girl by her father, & for however well written & beautiful it can be, it still boils down to my discomfort at that fact. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abandonment

Minor: Drug use

lidz_2tc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Murder

emmasxph's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book should come with trigger warnings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment