In the novel My Absolute Darling, Turtle Alveston is a character readers can love and hate at the same time. Turtle’s level of complexity as a character makes readers view her as a true breathing and living individual in the real world. Turtle experiences the worst type of abuse a person can go through while still remaining resilient and determined to overcome her difficult obstacles. The characterization of Turtle may not be easy to understand; however, readers cannot blame her actions as it is her only manner of survival since all the odds are against her when she verbally attacks a fellow classmate. Turtle’s hatred and indifference towards the exterior world manifests in a manner which she views as her only protection in an environment created by her father. Turtle in addition, struggles to her find her own identity separate from her father’s views of herself and the world. At the start of novel, Turtle nonetheless accepts the reality of the world she lives in with Martin and does not necessarily questions it or rebels against it, seeing as it’s all she has known in the world. However, there comes a time in the novel where Turtle is exposed to a different reality when she meets Jacob and Brett lost in the woods. The simple encounter becomes a catalyst to an already developing snowball. Martin’s constant psychological games played on Turtle takes a heavy toll on her and the view she has of the world. The mind games make Turtle have a distorted outlook on life that