Reviews with content warning for Murder - My Absolute Darling

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

16 reviews

laura_cat's review against another edition

dark 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

Perhaps the most deeply disturbing book I’ve ever read. This book has extremely graphic descriptions of violence and cruelty and I had to skip ahead at times to avoid some of them. I am relieved to be finished with the book. It’s well-written but I’m not convinced that all of the scenes and disturbing imagery were necessary, and I wonder if this detracted from the impact.

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tamzy6's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

You know what, this book reminds me of A Little Life, like trauma porn set in the natural world. As a reader you got to have a certain detachment as you read it because there are some unfathomable scenes that make you go "whaaaaat?!?!?" I was grossed out yet intrigued, and that shows how Tallent is a tallented writer (haha).

I love love love his prose and his writing style. He has a frightening way of making violence, in all its forms, seem so seductive.

Anyway I've also entered many tags under graphic

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amessina3399's review against another edition

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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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lidz_2tc's review against another edition

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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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bluelightbeam's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

When I bought this book, I read the summary on the back and thought it would be a relatively lighthearted story. I could not have been more wrong. I can say, with the utmost confidence, that this was my toughest read since Lolita. Words cannot possibly do justice to my feelings in this moment. All I know is that it’s 2 A.M. and I need to vent a bit.

First, I will never understand why so many male authors write stories like this. What fascinates them so much about female suffering, and why do they seem to think they are the best people to tell these stories? It feels voyeuristic.

Martin is the worst, and I know that’s probably written intentionally, but dear god. The first 1/2 to 2/3 of this book feels slow. Call it “setting the tone” or whatever, but by the time the action started I was just so tired of Martin running his mouth and waxing poetic about how everyone and everything is terrible and how badly he wants to

kill his daughter.

Turtle is an interesting character, I’ll give you that. Her psychology and growth is the only saving grace of this novel. She is simultaneously self-aware and entirely deluded by her father’s influence. She loves and hates him. I like that she was not some perfect, meek victim, but instead someone who struggled with moral/ethical dilemmas regarding her father’s behavior and chose to act—if imperfectly.

In short, I would not recommend this book. It contains nothing that you couldn’t find elsewhere.

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kellyofcali's review against another edition

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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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