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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
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:
No
3.75 / 5 — this book is both everything and not quite enough.
everett writes with a scalpel and a sledgehammer, sometimes in the same paragraph. the trees is part detective story, part horror farce, part satire, and entirely about the genocide of black americans through lynching, a violence that is not past but present, not historical but ongoing. the conceit is outrageous: white men, whose families were complicit in emmett till’s murder, begin turning up dead, testicles removed, a black body beside them. the body resembles till himself. the murders pile up, absurd and grisly, and the novel runs forward with gleeful rage.
the brilliance here lies in the tone. the humor, slapstick, bawdy, scathing, is not an accessory but a weapon. everett ridicules the stupidity of white supremacists and the state that protects them; his klansmen are grotesque caricatures, less men than cartoons of ignorance. i often laughed, but each laugh curdled into anger because of what anchors the satire: history that bleeds into the present. america hides its transgressions, as everett notes, and he refuses to let the reader look away.
and yet. the humor did not always land for me. sometimes it felt juvenile, sometimes repetitive. i read murder mysteries for character, for texture, and here the characters function more as types than as people. that flatness works in service of allegory, yes, but it also lessened my attachment. i longed for a deeper final twist, a knife between the ribs that never came. there is also a glaring gap: lynching is framed almost entirely as male experience, with little attention given to the racist violence inflicted on women.
still, it’s impossible to deny the audacity. the trees is a chimera: satire, horror, buddy-cop banter, blaxploitation revenge fantasy, and an unflinching black lives matter polemic. it shouldn’t cohere, and yet it does. the orange-tinged ex-president cameo, the looping body count, the short, breathless chapters, it all adds up to a howl of rage disguised as comedy.
i finished the book unsettled, laughing and grieving at once. everett doesn’t offer catharsis, not really. what he offers is confrontation: america’s genocide laid bare, stylized, absurd, but no less true.
verdict: 3.75 stars. not my perfect book, but a necessary one. everett’s satire is blunt, brutal, brilliant in flashes. and if i am left wanting, perhaps that’s because no novel, however searing, can be adequate to the horror it depicts.
everett writes with a scalpel and a sledgehammer, sometimes in the same paragraph. the trees is part detective story, part horror farce, part satire, and entirely about the genocide of black americans through lynching, a violence that is not past but present, not historical but ongoing. the conceit is outrageous: white men, whose families were complicit in emmett till’s murder, begin turning up dead, testicles removed, a black body beside them. the body resembles till himself. the murders pile up, absurd and grisly, and the novel runs forward with gleeful rage.
the brilliance here lies in the tone. the humor, slapstick, bawdy, scathing, is not an accessory but a weapon. everett ridicules the stupidity of white supremacists and the state that protects them; his klansmen are grotesque caricatures, less men than cartoons of ignorance. i often laughed, but each laugh curdled into anger because of what anchors the satire: history that bleeds into the present. america hides its transgressions, as everett notes, and he refuses to let the reader look away.
and yet. the humor did not always land for me. sometimes it felt juvenile, sometimes repetitive. i read murder mysteries for character, for texture, and here the characters function more as types than as people. that flatness works in service of allegory, yes, but it also lessened my attachment. i longed for a deeper final twist, a knife between the ribs that never came. there is also a glaring gap: lynching is framed almost entirely as male experience, with little attention given to the racist violence inflicted on women.
still, it’s impossible to deny the audacity. the trees is a chimera: satire, horror, buddy-cop banter, blaxploitation revenge fantasy, and an unflinching black lives matter polemic. it shouldn’t cohere, and yet it does. the orange-tinged ex-president cameo, the looping body count, the short, breathless chapters, it all adds up to a howl of rage disguised as comedy.
i finished the book unsettled, laughing and grieving at once. everett doesn’t offer catharsis, not really. what he offers is confrontation: america’s genocide laid bare, stylized, absurd, but no less true.
verdict: 3.75 stars. not my perfect book, but a necessary one. everett’s satire is blunt, brutal, brilliant in flashes. and if i am left wanting, perhaps that’s because no novel, however searing, can be adequate to the horror it depicts.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Cannot believe I haven’t read this sooner, is amazing
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The short chapters and alternating storylines add to the fast pace and mystery behind the murders. The writing style is intriguing. I can tell I will be thinking about this book for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Murder
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow. So powerful.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
holy. shit. this is something you can pick up and go through without stopping but it literally stays with you forever. i mean i fucking dreamt of this so good job percival everett.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No