Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

James by Percival Everett

8 reviews

bookb1itch's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

Timing!  This arrived on my final day of isolation with covid, so I got straight into it - when I could wrestle it away from my son!  Such intelligent commentary about race.  I'm now looking for Everett's back-catalogue, starting with Erasure, because I adored the film version "American Fiction".  It is so believably written, BUT I don't want to believe that African-Americans ever lived with this level of bigotry and mistrust.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Bullying, and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Racism, and Hate crime

Minor: War

foresturken's review

adventurous emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Slavery, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Blood, Murder, Rape, Racism, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Violence, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Torture, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, War, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Police brutality

mrsmoy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Torture, Slavery, Child death, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Murder, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

franklola's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Trafficking, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Alcoholism, War, Child abuse, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

asims723's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Slavery, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Torture

evelikesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Violence, and Slavery

bibliomich's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

It is not often that my expectations are *this* high before I even begin reading a book, and it’s even rarer that the actual book far exceeds those expectations, so please listen to me when I say that everyone should (/needs to) read Percival Everett’s James.

This novel is brilliant for so many reasons, but I was mostly impressed by the way it takes a well-known classic (one that I read in middle school and high school and again in college) and not only tells the same story from a different perspective, but shows you how the story was actually never the story we thought it was in the first place. Everett directly challenges assumptions about language, adventure vs. survival, and what it means to be “free” as a Black person in the mid-1800s. While you may recognize many of the characters and scenes from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book truly shines when Everett deviates from the original novel.

Thank you so much to Libro.fm for including this as an educator ALC this month.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Violence