Reviews

Seven Steps to Heaven by Fred Khumalo

lleullawgyffes's review against another edition

4.5

Wow. That covered a lot of ground. My one main complaint is that the second half of the book felt a little rushed, especially towards the ending. On the other hand, the sort of whirlwind effect at the end might have been exactly what Khumalo was going for. Going to need time to process this.

nooksandbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective tense 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

Fred Khumalo is a brilliant writer. I knew I would enjoy this book from the first chapter.  I mean a delusional, drunkard author rooming the street's of Hillbrow, cussing out and fighting a dead ( non-existent) person will definitely grab my attention.  The opening was just grappling... 

This book is about two childhood friends who grew up in a newly developed suburb called Exclusive Park in Durban find themselves taking extraordinary paths as they grow into adulthood.  They're lives are strangely intertwined as lose and find each other in their journey.  

Sizwe grows up to be a well known author who has written award winning books while Thulani becomes a delinquent.  However, when they're paths cross in their journey.  Sizwe Dube discovers that he doesn't know his friend Thulani  Tembe as well as he thought he did. He has secret lives and an extraordinary skill that he has always yearned for.

I loved how complicated yet simple this "imposter story" ( that's what I called it lol) takes an unexpected twist at the end...leaving you wanting more. 

I really enjoyed it. 

phumlani's review against another edition

3.0

A disturbingly dark and challengingly deep plunge into the mind of split personality disorders and schizophrenia . The first two thirds of the book are simple enough and flow easily, as you draw to the end when Thulani’s body is taken over by the second then the third personality it gets very confusing, I had to go back and reread other pages in order to fully understand what was going on. Sizwe’s character is introduced to us as a drunkard in a Hillbrow shebeen along with some characters that are given a huge chunk of attention at the beginning but end up not making any contribution to the story in the end,it’s as if the author completely forgot about them somewhere along the book,he described them,built them up then just neglected them rather unceremoniously.

The author clearly researched the split personality phenomenon and it shows. The only slight problem with that is how much of the story he was willing to compromise in order to fit the split personality in. An example is how the Parents and the community seemingly lose interest in the protagonist to the point of not even finding out that he is in prison yet he made national news.

It’s a well written book,worth a read,quite entertaining and quirky. It’s a good read, I recommend it.

botle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

4.0

sim1_brugger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.0