Reviews with content warning for Violence - James

Satisfying yet realistic end for James/Jim. I want to go back and read Huckleberry Finn again now, which I haven't read in years, to see how the two books compare. I think they mostly line up in major plot points, but I want to check.

The depiction of slavery was very realistic in ways that a lot of people are still unaware of, yet still sanitized because a great deal (but not all) of the violence takes place "off-screen."

The horrific abuse that Sadie likely suffered at the breeding farm, even in only two weeks, wasn't touched on at all, for example. Despite it showing in one instance how exactly so many slaves who were white could be born, it was still a very male-centric viewpoint.

It did an excellent job wrestling with the nature of race in a system where race determines every element of your life.

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tea_time's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was my first Percival Everett book and I was absolutely blown away! This story was tragic, action-packed, funny, and redemptive all at the same time and it's hard to put into words how I felt about as I was reading it. I think it will have to sit with me for awhile. I will say that I believe it's a book that everyone needs to experience.

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readingoverbreathing's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

When I first heard that this was coming out, I knew a Huck Finn reread was definitely going to be in order to prepare for the subversive adventure this would be. And after months of waiting for my library hold to come through, it just so happened that it was finally my turn to read this just as I made my own trip to Missouri. With the NYT Book Review book club episode ready to go in my podcast queue, I could not have been better or more prepared to pick this up.

All that is to say, my expectations were pretty high. And while in some ways I had a good idea of what to expect, I also had no idea where Percival Everett's brilliant mind was going to take this.

I will admit that I was not really feeling the first few chapters. With little more than a racist stereotype to go off of, James's character felt like a carbon copy of Everett himself transposed onto this story, which is something that always bothers me. For the first half, there wasn't much departure from the original plot, and I was dreading the meetup with the Duke and the King, whom I find pretty unbearable as characters.

But thankfully that's just when things shifted and Everett's subversion really began to take shape. I kept expecting him to pick the threads of the original plot back up, but, honestly, he never did — and I loved it. Now we were getting the fresh, sharp, and realistically brutal spin that I had been waiting for.

True to Everett's style, we descended into more and more chaos and violence, but all of it was brilliantly done. By the end, we were verging on Everett's characteristic absurdity, but in a way that was truly the best possible climax this reimagination could have had.

I still feel like the first half was a little slow and James's character a little too close to Everett himself, but other than that, this is truly such a brilliant reimaging and, unsurprisingly, worth the praise and hype it's currently receiving. I don't think a read (or reread) of Huck Finn is essential, especially if you're already familiar with the historical context, but it will do so much to enrich your experience of this book, so I think well worth it for those considering.

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