Reviews

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright

ady_soundslike80's review against another edition

I am going to wait for this on audio. The font in the paperback copy that I have is just too hard on my eyes.

hellosmilagan's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced

5.0

antonsk's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

The story and the message within this novel is without a doubt worth all the praise it's been receiving. It's an important story about being Aboriginal in Australia and I wish I could give it five stars for the story alone, however, the repetitive and rambling writing style ruined the reading experience for me. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say the book could be cut in half without loosing any of the plot. 

curatoriallyyours's review against another edition

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

2.0

This book won the Stella Prize in 2024 and I cannot understand why. While there were some profound moments (a scene where a teacher defends a student from the police comes to mind) and some beautifully written passages, overall this book was long-winded and there was no payoff at the end for enduring over 700 pages with insufficient plot to keep me interested. The characters were pretty unlikeable too, which made it harder to care about what happened to them. The author had some important things to say but her messages got a bit lost amongst the repetitive prose. Ultimately this book did not deliver on what it promised and it did not get better as it went along. I endured it!

rachchop's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad

3.0

azlanm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kam14505's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad 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

5.0

kms1878's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

jknoxwhite's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This is one of the most challenging books I have read. Hard to say that I really enjoyed it, but I really appreciated it. Stylistically, it was outside my typical comfort zone. 

I will be spending some time reading more about it to better understand the narrative style, which strikes me is more oral based. Reading some of the other reviews here, I agree that the narrative is not just circular but continues to circle back on itself and refine the story and the details.

doddyaboutbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0