Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

15 reviews

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

This is one of the just wild books I have ever read. There are scenes in this book that will never leave my brain no matter how much I want them to, and I'm not really sure how to feel about that?

Lol listen the characters were a bit hard for me to connect with, and I'm not sure I love the ending, and I was expecting something totally different but I also don't know why I was? I feel like this book left me with so many more questions than answers 😅 BUT it has stuck in my brain which is very difficult for a book to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism

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

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

brieflyblue's review against another edition

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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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 violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: War

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

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

kkay27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

clara_dalstein's review

challenging dark emotional

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment

natbee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

A hard read. The subject matter was hard, and it felt jarring and the amount of events in the book made me feel like I was bracing myself on a roller coaster. I don't usually shy away from hard for me.  topics but this was a bit much for me As an audio book, this was hard for me to follow the descriptions of things like guns, or medical procedures. The writing was good, and obviously got me interewted in how it would turn out, just a lot of trigger warnings on this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, and Abandonment