My Absolute Darling (Tallent) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Gabriel Tallent’s debut novel about an abused 14-year-old girl is explosive, and glorious.
Newsday


Every once in awhile there comes along a fictional character—Jane Eyre, Kunta Kinte, Jude St. Francis—whose plight and determination to overcome subsumes the reader so completely, we actually feel ourselves missing him or her after the final page. Turtle, the adolescent protagonist of Gabriel Tallent's debut novel, is that and so much more. For her unconventional wisdom and indomitable inner strength, and for Tallent's descriptive dexterity, which makes everything from Turtle's physical anguish to the smells and sensations of the lush California wilderness around her leap off the page—this is one of the most important books you'll pick up this decade.
Harper's Bazaar


One of EW's favorite books of the year so far…an unputdownable coming-of-age novel.
Entertainment Weekly


In his ferocious, heart-breaking first novel, Tallent deciphers the twisted relationship between Turtle Alveston and her rugged loner father, Martin.… Tallent combines gorgeous passages about the wilderness Turtle knows well and a steady beat of dramatic tension in this smashing debut.
BBC - Between the Lines


[A] gripping, vivid debut.… Readers will root for Turtle as she sets out to escape and be absorbed by Tallent’s stunning descriptions of nature.
RealSimple


Room meets Rambo in this emotionally fraught first novel.… In Turtle, Tallent has crafted a resourceful and resilient character.… In the end, though, Turtle’s story is harrowingly visceral.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Few coming-of-age stories deliver the sheer lyrical power of Tallent’s debut … Lucidly written, both heartbreaking and heartfelt, this book is ultimately affirmative without the slightest sentimentality, and it’s remarkable.
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Turtle is an extraordinary character whose thoughts and actions enliven the pages of Tallent’s remarkable first novel…. So vivid is the gorgeously realized setting that it becomes itself a major character in a novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page.
Booklist


(Starred review.) A 14-year-old girl struggles to escape her father's emotional and physical abuse in this harrowing debut. Turtle … is a remarkable teenage hero, heavily damaged but admirably persistent. A powerful, well-turned story about abuse, its consequences, and what it takes to survive it.
Kirkus Reviews