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The Absolutes
His wife is dead.
His beloved daughter has been lost to a dangerous cult.
And now time is running out to rebuild their relationship. Haunted by his failings as a son, a husband and, most of all, as a father, he is desperate to try and make things right before it's too late.
Told through fragments of memory The Absolutes captures the essence of hope in the face of loss as one man struggles to come to terms with his past.
His beloved daughter has been lost to a dangerous cult.
And now time is running out to rebuild their relationship. Haunted by his failings as a son, a husband and, most of all, as a father, he is desperate to try and make things right before it's too late.
Told through fragments of memory The Absolutes captures the essence of hope in the face of loss as one man struggles to come to terms with his past.
- GenresAudiobook
325 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2025
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43 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 26, 2025
3.5 stars
Wish I hadn’t been caught in a reading slump midway though this. Such a great description of grief and how it affects people in different ways.
Wish I hadn’t been caught in a reading slump midway though this. Such a great description of grief and how it affects people in different ways.
December 5, 2024
I found this book quite heavy going. So many possibilities of a loving father to win back his daughter lost to a dangerous cult. Why do people take on cults? Because they can’t cope with the reality of life. Effie is severely traumatised by the fact her mother threw herself off a bridge to avoid the painful death of stage 4 cancer. Her father can’t cope either and is powerless to stop his daughter disappearing for years into this cult. I wanted to bash their heads together. They could have made peace with each other if their mother’s violent suicide hadn’t taken place. So much miscommunication leading to loss and heartbreak. I was left thinking so much more could have been done. Sad 😭
April 29, 2025
4.5 stars
I read this in one sitting. I was hooked.
I read this in one sitting. I was hooked.
April 16, 2025
The Absolutes is beautifully written. I wanted to savour each piece of the book, re-reading passages to enjoy them all over again. The language is magical, broken into morsels that are just enough to satisfy, acting as plot points, dazzling imagery and devastating emotional bombs. Loved it
August 27, 2025
The Absolutes begins with a shocking, gut punch of a line that instantly knocks the air out of you. It sets the tone for what follows: a story that refuses to soften or filter the truth. Like in children’s tales where parents are killed off early to clear the stage, you think the blow will distance you, that it will stop you from getting attached. But instead it draws you closer, and before you realise it, you are utterly bound to the father at the centre of this story.
What Kate Potter achieves here is remarkable. Through a collage of memory, absence and longing, she captures not just the grief of losing a child to something beyond reach, but the father’s unwavering love and helpless devotion. His desperation does not come as melodrama, but as quiet echoes, like the way a single note can reverberate long after the music has stopped.
The similes and fragments Potter uses are luminous, almost magical. They create a sense of myth, while at the same time never letting you escape the raw human ache at the core. It is both devastating and beautiful, like staring at broken glass that catches the light.
What deepens the novel’s resonance is learning that Potter herself wrote from a place of lived experience: her own half brother disappeared in the 1970s, feared to have been swallowed by a cult. That personal history runs through every page, lending the narrative a truth and weight that cannot be faked.
This is not a story that spares you, and it should not. It insists that you stay present, that you look directly at love and loss and absence, and still find something luminous in the telling. For me, The Absolutes was both harrowing and magical, a novel I read in one sitting and one I will carry with me for a long time.
What Kate Potter achieves here is remarkable. Through a collage of memory, absence and longing, she captures not just the grief of losing a child to something beyond reach, but the father’s unwavering love and helpless devotion. His desperation does not come as melodrama, but as quiet echoes, like the way a single note can reverberate long after the music has stopped.
The similes and fragments Potter uses are luminous, almost magical. They create a sense of myth, while at the same time never letting you escape the raw human ache at the core. It is both devastating and beautiful, like staring at broken glass that catches the light.
What deepens the novel’s resonance is learning that Potter herself wrote from a place of lived experience: her own half brother disappeared in the 1970s, feared to have been swallowed by a cult. That personal history runs through every page, lending the narrative a truth and weight that cannot be faked.
This is not a story that spares you, and it should not. It insists that you stay present, that you look directly at love and loss and absence, and still find something luminous in the telling. For me, The Absolutes was both harrowing and magical, a novel I read in one sitting and one I will carry with me for a long time.
December 11, 2024
A tender & deeply atmospheric literary novel written with real artistry. A tragic story yet there was so much in here that made me smile, not least the beautiful form and layout. There is often a gorgeous surprise when you turn a page, beyond the skilfully written text. I was hugely impressed by this debut.
November 26, 2025
This was absolutely stunning. Borrowed from my library via libby! They only carry it as an audiobook, so I need to pick up a physical copy at some point to re read because the prose is heartbreakingly vivid.
April 26, 2025
I loved this book but my god can this guy not just catch a break
July 6, 2025
Beautifully and gently written. Heartbreaking, hopefully and devastating.
December 21, 2025
The Absolutes by Kate Potter is a quietly devastating debut that completely drew me in. Potter delivers a raw, intimate portrayal of grief, regret, and the relentless ache for redemption. The story follows a man trying to piece his life back together after the suicide of his wife and the loss of his daughter to a controlling cult. Time is slipping away, and he knows it. This is his final chance to put things right.
Told through fragments of memory, the book mirrors the narrator’s fractured sense of identity. I loved this structure. It felt authentic and immediate, echoing the emotional disorientation of trauma and loss. Potter doesn’t spoon-feed answers; instead, she invites you to sit in the discomfort, to feel what her characters can’t quite say out loud.
The cult storyline stood out to me in particular. It was unnervingly realistic and sensitively handled. But what struck me most was how human the entire story felt. These characters are messy, flawed, and trying their best, even when it leads them further away from one another. The ripple effect of grief is explored with such nuance, it’s not just about what’s lost, but how people try, and often fail, to carry on.
Potter’s prose is lyrical but restrained, and some of the most powerful pages are only a few lines long. The book is short, but it packs an emotional punch. If you’re drawn to literary fiction that explores memory, family, and the burden of the past, this is well worth your time.
Please do check the trigger warnings—this is a heavy read. But it’s also beautifully crafted, emotionally rich, and quietly powerful.
[AD/PR] Thank you to Olivia at @legend_press for the copy.
Told through fragments of memory, the book mirrors the narrator’s fractured sense of identity. I loved this structure. It felt authentic and immediate, echoing the emotional disorientation of trauma and loss. Potter doesn’t spoon-feed answers; instead, she invites you to sit in the discomfort, to feel what her characters can’t quite say out loud.
The cult storyline stood out to me in particular. It was unnervingly realistic and sensitively handled. But what struck me most was how human the entire story felt. These characters are messy, flawed, and trying their best, even when it leads them further away from one another. The ripple effect of grief is explored with such nuance, it’s not just about what’s lost, but how people try, and often fail, to carry on.
Potter’s prose is lyrical but restrained, and some of the most powerful pages are only a few lines long. The book is short, but it packs an emotional punch. If you’re drawn to literary fiction that explores memory, family, and the burden of the past, this is well worth your time.
Please do check the trigger warnings—this is a heavy read. But it’s also beautifully crafted, emotionally rich, and quietly powerful.
[AD/PR] Thank you to Olivia at @legend_press for the copy.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews