Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Promise by Damon Galgut

6 reviews

holly_daze_'s review against another edition

challenging funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Cancer

bealmg's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Apartheid has fallen, see, we die right next to each other now, in intimate proximity. It's just the living part we still have to work out.

I absolutely loved Galgut's writing, I think it is the strongest aspect of this novel. We have a sarcastic and unrealiable narrator who weaves in and out of each characters' perspectives to reveal their innermost thoughts and motivations. Although this can be disorienting, it was brilliantly done - and it reflects, I believe, the turmoil and chaos in post-Apartheid South Africa.
I also really enjoyed the complicated and messy family dynamics and how the characters interacted with one another, often leaving more things unsaid than said; it is up to us, the reader, to join the pieces of the puzzle and to interpret their silences.
However, I wished we had seen more of Salome and her son Lukas. Perhaps that was on purpose - after all, this is a story about South Africa and the post-Apartheid promises that were never really fulfilled. Still, I would have liked to know more about these two characters and I would have liked to see a deeper exploration of racial relations in post-Apartheid South Africa.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Murder, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Gaslighting and Racism

sal17's review

dark fast-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer and Suicide

Minor: Murder

amyford's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Cancer, Violence, Gun violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Eating disorder, and Classism

ladymirtazapine's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

The ideas were much better than the execution. The first chapter, a quarter of the book, was barely readable, the second was brilliant, the other two were fine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Racism, Murder, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Infertility, Gun violence, Grief, Excrement, Eating disorder, Dementia, Death of parent, Confinement, Cancer, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

emmagrace's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Infidelity, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Infertility, Cancer, and Eating disorder