Reviews

The Promise by Damon Galgut

ba39's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

jadestarting's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

launb's review against another edition

2.0

The harm a 'millions paper cuts' of minor acts can cause to other human beings, is laid out in this book. Too sad to read. A cloud of sadness hung over of me every time I started reading it.

cahealwa's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

i really didn’t get on with the writing style, it was disjointed and never stayed in one place for too long. I know that was the point but it didn’t make me enjoy it any more. However, the tie in with Anton’s writing style made it that .25 better. 

libscash's review

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

racheyra's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

4.25

elliepb's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

missyjohnson's review against another edition

3.0

Book club choice for Booker Prize (2021). The Swart family own a farm in South Africa. The story begins as apartheid is ending. Rachel, the mom of Anton, Astrid and Amor and wife to Manie has died. Before Rachel dies, she has Manie promise to give a house on the property to Salome, the housekeeper and nanny of all three children lives in. Manie makes the promise that Amor hears. At this time, blacks cannot own property. The story extends over the next 30 years the the promise is not fulfilled for one reason or another. This is distressing to Amor. Each family member has his or her own issues and the family is dysfunctional. The author did not use quotation marks for any dialogue and in some cases it is a bit confusing. The “narrator” is not named and could be any of the characters in the book or none. There is some stream of consciousness that sometimes adds to the confusion. So glad that we did this for book club as this one deserves discussion.

ibtisam_n's review against another edition

challenging 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

alexandra165's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0