It isn't often that I finish a book that I wouldn't recommend to a friend. This is one of those times. Tallent is a very good writer, there is no question about that. But this novel is so dark, so depressingly nihilistic and unrelentingly cruel that I would not tell anyone to read it.
However, I did finish it because it is compelling. The young 14-year old protagonist, Turtle, is a mess of a person, ill educated, malnourished, abused, living in poverty, self-hating and hopeless. Gosh, right there, does it make you want to go out and get this book, settle down for a nice cozy read? Nope. But once you start, you do want to know what happens to her and her monster of a father. In fact, you become somewhat compelled to find out, as if you will be letting Turtle down if you don't finish the book.
I felt like I needed a really long shower and a few sessions of therapy once this book ended. I hope Gabriel Tallent continues to write, I just hope the next book has a tiny bit of light in it.
Thanks for the warning, Julie! This one is getting glowing press (it's a first novel, right?), but it's hard to get in the mood for such dark fiction when we live in such uncertain (and yes, dark) times.
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