Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Promise by Damon Galgut

17 reviews

kajasversion's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence and Racism

Minor: Eating disorder

ginnydw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, and Mental illness

julia_rose's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

The most 5 star book I’ve ever 5-starred. This is a very special book. Exquisite prose without being pretentious. Complex characters you love and hate (except Amor and Salome who are angels) who evolve masterfully. Extremely visual, it’s rare that a book transports me to another world. Emotional but not corny and still has the odd light-hearted moment which is hard to inject into such a dark story.

I appreciated how Lukas still scolded Amor at the end so it didn’t become just another “white saviour book.

Seamlessly floated between all the characters’ heads, expert narration. Just beautiful. A beautiful beautiful book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Infertility, Death, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism

geraldinerowe's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

For me, this book didn't live up to the hype. I found the writing style pretentious and gimmicky, and all the main characters unlikeable. I'm not sure whether you were supposed to like Amor, but I didn't. She claimed to want to keep her family's promise, but did almost nothing to try to achieve it apart from vaguely mentioning it in passing every ten years or so. But perhaps that's not what the book was about. The narrative seemed to suggest it was more about the family itself, and how the huge changes happening in South Africa at the time played into their story. It was fairly obvious from the titles of the four parts of the book, once you're a little way in, how the story will unfold, and there are no surprises, but Galgut is a compelling writer so it's less about the ending and more about getting there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Colonisation, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Infertility, Racism, and Gun violence

karol99's review

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death of parent, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Abandonment, Suicide, Sexism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Colonisation

manonh90's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

I... didn't like this book. The writing style (jumping between perspectives even within sentences, the lack of quotation marks... ) really annoyed me and the story wasn't my cup of tea either: small-minded, unlikable people I couldn't care less about, who somehow reflect historical societal issues. Would have DNF'ed if I hadn't been reading it for book club. I'm also beginning to realise capital L-literary fiction might not be for me, not the Booker Prize winners in any case. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, War, Medical content, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Dementia, Eating disorder, and Vomit

Minor: Self harm and Sexual content

jadew2000's review

challenging emotional funny reflective fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, and Violence

heather077's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Classism and Eating disorder

thebowandthebook's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.5

Very interesting read, it hopped around a good bit. Writing style was different then my normal reads but enjoyed it. Bit crude,unfiltered examination of people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Classism, Death of parent, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Racism, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

Minor: Eating disorder, Incest, and Infertility

steveatwaywords's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

Little point in describing Galgut as a fine and (nearly) unique stylist. <i>The Promise</> fulfills its titular expectation: behind these familial characters is a connection/disturbance always beneath--moral and spiritual, political and cultural--which informs the narrow narcissisms and lethargies they practice. On occasion it bubbles to the surface, threatening to overturn it all. Galgut, too, structures his book to support these perturbations: episodes around death, transient disaffections with religious answers, ironic narrative insinuations--all to form a teleological ennui for its main characters (I dare call none precisely a protagonist). 

This is my first read of his, and now I must turn to others, though I worry that Galgut's white narrative perspective may limit his ability to broaden his political frame. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Death of parent