A review by seventhswan
The Trees by Percival Everett

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

3.75

I had never read anything by Everett before, and went into The Trees with no idea what to expect. The biggest surprise for me was how funny it was - this is a book with countless violent deaths, not to mention horrific racism in various forms, and yet I found myself laughing as often as I was horrified. I've rarely seen the balance between "dark" and "humour" in a book marketed that way navigated so well.

I found the concept of this story clever - it could easily have veered into the ridiculous, but always stopped just before. The main characters and setting were expertly realised and felt extremely real, even knowing fairly little about rural Mississippi. My only reservation was that there were so many characters - in such a fast-paced story, there were times I struggled to keep track of each one's role. 
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