If I disliked 'A Little Life' will I also fail to enjoy 'My Absolute Darling'?

[Fretnworry]

I know A.L.L caused a storm but I really didn't care for the saintly-but-tragic hero, the one-dimensional and endlessly patient friends and gah just the black and white nature of the narrative. Maybe I'd have fallen for it as an adolescent but as an adult I found it lacked depth and complexity.

Aaaaaanyway; I mean no disrespect to fans of A.L.L, it's a difference in taste, that's all. I only explain why I didn't like it so wise mumsnetters can help me decide whether or not to invest time and money in My Absolute Darling.

I'm worried many of the one line reviews on amazon link the two and because it's a book written about ( from the perspective of?) a girl written by a man. Hmmmm.

Anyone out there read both and liked one but not the other? Enjoyed both?

I am a fan of literature and books, honest and enjoyed a lot of books this year, Eleanor Oliphant, Fever Dreams, The Dry, The Year of the Runaways and i just read Moonrise (Sarah Crossan) which was very, very good but very, very sad. I bought it to share with DD but am wondering if it's too sad and, if I'm honest, too much like propaganda for a 12 year old (not that I agree with the death penalty at all but it's important children know the arguments as well as the emotion when it comes to making up their own minds and I know at her age this will hardware her against; no bad thing but it's wrong even if people are guilty and she needs to understand the bigger picture - but maybe this is a good way into the conversation . . . Ahrgh I'm going off-track,
; this is a whole other thread!)

So, back to my main point; to read My Absolute or not - or any other recommendations? Maybe something a teeny bit buoyant as I head back to work for 2018!?

Fwiw, I very much liked A Little Life but gave up on My Absolute Darling because it was too samey and descriptive for me. MAD is very dark and I found it unrelenting (from what I read).

MAD was absolute drivel, I resent the time I wasted reading it!

Thanks both. Mind made up; I'll skip it!

Well I have just finished My Absolute Darling and was totally gripped, could not put it down and thought it was brilliantly written. I’ve read criticism of it being ‘too poetic’ (since when that was a bad thing I have no idea) but there was not one sentence in it I didn’t enjoy. ‘Enjoy’ is probably the wrong word as it’s very dark and powerful stuff but I honestly think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. But then I loved A Little Life too.