Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Promise by Damon Galgut

10 reviews

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

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

_chonklord_'s review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Colonisation, Classism, Grief, Kidnapping, and Suicide

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

Graphic: Suicide, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism

candournat's review

reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

Liked it but didn’t love it.

It’s beautifully written and full of metaphor but there was just something missing for me 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent, Murder, Racism, War, Religious bigotry, Classism, Death, Slavery, and Colonisation

Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide, and Alcoholism

mmtshali's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, Suicide, Murder, and Gun violence

Minor: Incest

jhartsoe's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Eating disorder

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