I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.

Absolution is skillfully written and masterfully complex, to the point that I think that for me it will merit a second read to see if I can make more concrete sense of it. I know very little of the South African history and social issues which are so completely integral to the story that the lack of knowledge seems a major hindrance. That said, the characters are as realistic and dimensional as any I've read recently and the writing itself is intoxicating. There is an unreliable narrator vibe that I always like, and while some of the exposition is maybe overly complex and slightly repetitive, it never seems to lack purpose.

So in short, even though I spent a lot of time confused about the structure and what was going on, I still find Absolution compelling enough to read again. This is an extremely impressive first novel.