Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Promise

Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Promise by Damon Galgut

45 reviews

chiel's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I mean, I get it, how the story of this family is used as the story of South Africa in general, including the dismissiveness of black characters, the changing of time, the jumps between deaths and the jumps in its political landscape. It's all really clever and beautifully written.
And I'll be honest, that's possibly my main gripe with this novel. It seems to have been written to be a Booker Prize winner, not the other way around. Multi Generational Drama: check. Stylistic choice of not using quotation marks: check. Backdrop of important event in history: check. All events being metaphors: check.
And because of that layer it sometimes feels the characters in this novel are almost caricatures of humans, without any real growth.

I didn't dislike the book, but it also didn't grip me in the slightest.

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gslangdon's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An amazing tapestry weaved through the modern history of South Africa and the trauma that life there can inflict on us. A truly moving read.

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kerrence30's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Extremely well written and strangely enjoyable despite the main theme of death.
I particularly enjoyed the style of using the deaths of each character as a way of developing the plot. The character study of each member of the family is so well done, that despite some of them being particularly awful, the reader still finds them fascinating.
The description of the political situation in South Africa over time is necessary, particularly as someone from Britain born after Apartheid. The voices and opinions of the various characters from different backgrounds, owning differing political views, change over time and reflect the changing general opinions of those living in the country.
Thoroughly enjoyed, and shows how there is no main character in life, we are all just play a part.

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kajasversion's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Truly a masterfully written story, the narrative transitioned from one character to another seamlessly and it was amazing to witness. The characters are all flawed, the burden of family and societal values destroying their relationships.

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jess_vitale's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Between 3 to 3.5 stars, and generally undecided how I feel about this book. At first the writing style was confusing and annoying - particularly the lack of quotation marks around dialogue and flitting between the points of view of different characters within the same scene. Eventually I didn't mind the different POVs and found that made it more interesting since the story wasnt very engrossing. I think ultimately this book just wasn't what I expected because

the "promise" seemed to have very little impact on the story other than the estrangement of Amor & her single-track conversations with her family, and we barely see anything of Salome or why Amor cares other than the principle that a promise was made.

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