Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

40 reviews

varo's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death and Kidnapping

pearljanecatmama's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Incest

langos_ta's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cursing and Misogyny

tamzy6's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

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

bluelightbeam'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

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