Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

James by Percival Everett

66 reviews

skittlenomnom's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional funny reflective 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Colonisation

neutral_janet's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional tense 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Body horror, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Colonisation

quirkko24's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Colonisation

iordanmoore's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation

rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

4.75

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

chelle22's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

qqjj's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

pomoevareads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective sad 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: Complicated

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“The children said together, ‘And the better they feel, the safer we are.”

“Folks be funny lak dat. Dey takes the lies dey want and throws away the truths dat scares ‘em.”

This book will make my top ten books of the year for certain!

Readers who enjoy literary fiction and classics will likely have heard of James by Percival Everett. This book is everywhere and sweeping the awards categories. And deservedly so.

I won’t go into the details of the plot other than to say if you didn’t already know, this is a retelling of Huck Finn from the perspective of the slave Jim. I admit I am not sure if I ever read the original but did read some summaries before going into this one. 

As in the second quote above, it is expected that the black slaves will not be articulate. Everett flips this idea on its head when he has James teach the other slaves how to code switch. I found this to be such a clever and cheeky way to address the racist language assumptions of the time. 

There was adventure and suspense, drama, and satire in James. I never felt bored and the visual game was strong for me. I am so happy to own a copy for my shelves. I also have a copy of The Trees which I hope to prioritize early in the new year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Classism

sophieezreads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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i‘m at a loss for words to describe this reading experience but it was a phenomenal work i‘ll be thinking about so much still!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Torture, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation

princesskittyglitter's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Murder, Colonisation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail