My Absolute Darling

Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month for July 2018 Shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize 2018 You think you're invincible. You think you won't ever miss. We need to put the fear on you. You need to surrender yourself to death before you ever begin, and accept your life as a state of grace, and then and only then will you be good enough. At 14, Turtle Alveston knows the use of every gun on her wall. She knows that chaos is coming and only the strong will survive it. She knows that her daddy loves her more than anything else in this world, and he'll do whatever it takes to keep her with him. She doesn't know why she feels so different from the other girls at school or why the line between love and pain can be so hard to see. She doesn't know why making a friend may be the bravest and most terrifying thing she has ever done and what her daddy will do when he finds out ... Sometimes strength is not the same as courage. Sometimes leaving is not the only way to escape. Sometimes surviving isn't enough. Contains graphic scenes.