Reviews - Die Bäume | The StoryGraph

4.34k reviews for:

Die Bäume

Percival Everett

4.2 AVERAGE

raquelmsla's review against another edition

4.25

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

hay_jude's review against another edition

4.75

dark funny informative lighthearted tense medium-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: Complicated

The second book I've read by Percival Everett recently and as highly entertaining as 'James' but with a different take on the history of racism in US society. By mixing up the genres - the novel is a black comedy but also part police procedural, part horror story - the author addresses a highly serious question referencing the murder of Emmet Till and the history of the lynching and racist murders of black and Asian people before and since - in a hugely powerful way that is at times very funny and at the same time deeply shocking and extremely moving. It reminded me of the movie 'Get Out' in some ways but with an angrier and bleaker sensibility at its heart.

Content Warnings

cjalexander's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

alicemaryblanks14's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

emilyjasmin's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

The final chapter stunned me—in the first instance, I closed the book and wasn’t sure what to think, and then I realised what was unfolding in that living room. The final line of the book, spoken by Mama Z, was a gut-punch, and somehow summarised many of the themes the novel was engaging with in just four words.

This was my first Percival Everett novel, after listening to a wonderful interview between him and Dua Lipa on the Service95 podcast. It is a haunting, surreal, and painful read, juxtaposed against a very subversive use of humour that, in Everett’s own words, was ‘necessary to open up a world that allows people to ask questions’ (Service95 Podcast, 2nd September 2025).

I look forward to reading much more of his work.

charlma's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious sad tense

Content Warnings

mfeibel's review against another edition

5.0

Sometimes you read a book that is so clearly 5 stars that you rethink every other 5 star rating you've given recently.

This is one of those books. I was hooked from the start and could not stop listening. It was brutal and horrific and funny and rage-inducing. Everett's writing is so stunning that, once I get paid this week, a physical copy of this book is making its way onto my shelf for annotation purposes.

The chapter that was essentially an uninterrupted list of lynching victims - fucking hell I was just staring into space for minutes after.

It wasn't until reading the questions people asked that I realized the naming of the victims and the writing of their names was resurrecting them. Which is such a good commentary on memory and bearing witness.

The scenes with Trump were even harder to listen to now that we're somehow in a second term of his bullshit.

It just...it was such a beautifully written and deeply horrifying story. And I want to press it into everyone's hands.