My Absolute Darling is one of those rare books that pulls itself back in my eyes from a 1 or even DNF rating. Granted I have given it *only* 3 stars, but it’s such a varied book that I actually struggled with my overall thoughts on it!
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First off what I didn’t like: the dialogue is not great. I’d go so far as to say... terrible. It’s full of too many exclamation marks, characters have completely nonsensical interactions, one full conversation for a page was just made up of ‘Christ! Fuck!’ and this was supposed to entail some sort of meaning. Also Jacob and Brett’s speech was not very believable, a case of an adult man trying too hard to sound ‘down with the kids’. Picture Steve Buscemi with his skateboard and backwards cap. There was also way too much emphasis on guns, I get that Turtle and her dad are survivalists and love their guns, but there’s only so many times I need to read about how to clean them and all the technical mumbo jumbo.
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And now, obviously, there’s the graphic depictions of abuse - sexual, physical, emotional, you name it. It’s never an easy topic to read about, and it shouldn’t be, but I won’t recommend this one to everybody as it’s very triggering.
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But, what really turned this book around for me, was Turtle’s arc. From a brainwashed little girl who inherits her father’s violent hatred of women to... well that would be a spoiler. But it was uplifting, I thought. I loved the relationships that formed in the second half, it was what saved the book for me.
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So this is a tricky one. It’s violent, gory (my stomach was churning at many parts), upsetting, and clunky in parts. It’s not perfect. But Turtle is a character who will stay with me for a long time!