Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

62 reviews

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

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

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

maybak's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

C’est un livre qui ne laissera personne indifférent. J’ai trouvé les 70 premières pages difficiles à lire d’un point de vue émotionnel car on comprend rapidement

qu’il s’agit d’un père incestueux et que Julia Alveston alias Turtle est une ado maltraitée et en décrochage scolaire.

Sa mère est morte dans des circonstances peu claires et elle a grandit avec Martin, son père survivaliste, alcoolique et féru d’armes à feux. Son grand-père, Daniel, vit tout près d’eux dans son mobile home avec sa chienne âgée Rosy mais son fils et lui sont loin d’être en bons termes.

Turtle vit dans des conditions difficiles et elle est victime d’abus aussi bien émotionnels que physiques.

L’auteur a très bien su retranscrire comment une enfant maltraitée et qui n’a pas d’autres points de repères fait pour rationaliser les sévices qu’elle subit et à quel point il lui est difficile de tracer une ligne entre ce qui est normal et ce qui ne l’est pas. 

Turtle prend conscience du fossé entre son enfance et l’enfance des autres enfants lorsqu’elle fait la connaissance de Brett et Jacob. La mère de Brett était une amie de la mère de Julia et on sent qu’elle se fait du souci pour elle car elle connaît bien son père. Jacob vit une vie radicalement différente de celle de Turtle. Ses parents sont aisés, éduqués et souvent absents. J’ai aimé comment Gabriel Tallent a su montrer que la communauté tente d’aider Julia comme elle peut à travers les personnages d’Anna, la prof de Turtle, de Jacob, Brett et leurs familles. Il a également su montrer à quel point il est facile pour des enfants maltraités de passer entre les mailles du filet

car personne dans l’entourage de Julia ne se rend compte que son père l’a abandonnée pendant 3 mois, après le décès fracassant du grand-père de Julia.

Le roman est fort en émotions, plutôt graphique par moments et j’ai trouvé la deuxième moitié plus entraînante. Le rythme et l’intrigue s’intensifient et on est tenu en haleine en se demandant comment les choses vont finir pour Turtle et la petite Cayenne. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

halzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

mmwbrown114's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Mass/school shootings

sventura's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Ripped my heart to pieces.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Abandonment

mariana_ct08's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

jenshep's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

I rapidly consumed this book, which is heart-wrenchingly dark and awful, but very well written and you just keep reading hoping that it's going to get better (I won't say whether this want comes to be). It is really, really tough, so you have to be up for that kind of horrific material, but I found myself quickly entangled in the characters and story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy