Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Trees by Percival Everett

11 reviews

annamariesreads's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I read this on the back of Erasure, which was amazing satire. I was very excited 

I think the first third of this book is immaculate and throughout, there's alot to love. Ed and Jim really made me laugh and the pure ridiculousness of the white people was very entertaining. I also think Everett always does a great thing of making you laugh out loud and then immediately questioning why you just laughed out loud.

I think it's also really factually interesting. You learn alot, particularly about the Emmett Till case. 

Ultimately I think it lost its way. I'm unsure if we were supposed to be surprised by the ending but for me, it was evident early on who was responsible so I was a bit disappointed by that. 

I also think the pacing was off when they were skipping between counties. I was mostly invested in the activity in Money, Mississippi, so I found this quite frustrating. I can see why he did it though, to show the
enormous scar of racial violence
that will never disappear and for these victims to finally have their
vigilante justice on white America.
I think maybe the cast of characters became too large and it threw the pacing off.

Definitely not his best but a good read and I had some laugh out loud moments, for sure, as well as profound moments of reflection, which I think Everett does so well.

Trigger warnings are as to be expected for a novel about black history in the deep South.
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queenoftheharpies's review

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funny fast-paced

5.0

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rosecahill's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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rachaelreadsalot's review

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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musebeliever's review

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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m_delaney's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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summerb's review

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dark funny informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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vanessacav's review

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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emroll's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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clarehiyama's review

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challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was hard to put down. As others have noted, it’s shockingly funny for a book that is primarily about the history of racist terror inflicted upon Black people (and other people of color) throughout the existence of the United States. I found the characters incredibly compelling: all are complicated and most are DEEPLY flawed, and they all play their parts in this book very well. I appreciated that Everett  pulled no punches in looking at the ugliness of racist white people while also giving readers a sense of the many flavors of that ugliness. The racists were not one dimensional, evil villains. They are in turns vile, childish, self-aware and embarrassed, and just plain stupid. It also was interesting to follow main characters who were mostly Black cops, and to read about how they negotiate their Blackness and their coppiness with both white folks and Black folks. And I just genuinely liked Ed, Jim, Herbie, Gertrude, and Mama Z. I also was particularly tickled by the Trump parts. Everett really captured his bizarre way of speaking. There’s a part where he calls Mike Pence “Mr. Juicy Fruit” that I will probably reference quite a bit.

I will say that there are racial slurs (mostly the n-word but others too) used a lot throughout the book, and there are pretty graphic descriptions of lynchings and other violence, so it is not going to be for everyone.

In short, I loved this book, and I’ll surely be seeking out more Percival Everett. 
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