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A review by lawbooks600
None But the Righteous by Chantal James
reflective
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? No
2.0
Representation: Black characters
Score: Four points out of ten.
Man, I was disappointed. A few months ago I saw this new book arrive at one of the two libraries I visit but I put it off for a while to read other novels (some of which I enjoyed. However, I didn't enjoy some other ones.) Afterwards, I finally stopped delaying, picked it up and read it. When I finished, the story underwhelmed me to the point where I didn't want to reread it. It starts with the main character Ham whose last name I don't know living alone in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hits (here's the catch: I don't know why my library put this one in the historical genre when it's set in the early 21st century. Why? It also has a touch of fantasy but I can understand the history takes up most of the novel. If I were a librarian I wouldn't put it in historical, instead I'd put it in fantasy.) Only a few pages in, the flaws surface: there is an inconsistent POV as it keeps disjointedly switching from the 3rd POV omniscient narrator, the spirit, to the 1st POV of the protagonist, Ham. It's not an enjoyable reading experience and I had to struggle to finish it off, otherwise I would've given it a DNF. At least it's barely over 200 pages making it a quick and snappy read. I couldn't connect or relate to the characters either which is a pattern I'm seeing in a concerning amount of novels I read. In the end Ham becomes a father, somehow frees himself from the spirit (that was Ham's goal throughout the narrative) concluding it on a high note.
Score: Four points out of ten.
Man, I was disappointed. A few months ago I saw this new book arrive at one of the two libraries I visit but I put it off for a while to read other novels (some of which I enjoyed. However, I didn't enjoy some other ones.) Afterwards, I finally stopped delaying, picked it up and read it. When I finished, the story underwhelmed me to the point where I didn't want to reread it. It starts with the main character Ham whose last name I don't know living alone in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hits (here's the catch: I don't know why my library put this one in the historical genre when it's set in the early 21st century. Why? It also has a touch of fantasy but I can understand the history takes up most of the novel. If I were a librarian I wouldn't put it in historical, instead I'd put it in fantasy.) Only a few pages in, the flaws surface: there is an inconsistent POV as it keeps disjointedly switching from the 3rd POV omniscient narrator, the spirit, to the 1st POV of the protagonist, Ham. It's not an enjoyable reading experience and I had to struggle to finish it off, otherwise I would've given it a DNF. At least it's barely over 200 pages making it a quick and snappy read. I couldn't connect or relate to the characters either which is a pattern I'm seeing in a concerning amount of novels I read. In the end Ham becomes a father, somehow frees himself from the spirit (that was Ham's goal throughout the narrative) concluding it on a high note.
Content Warnings
Full trigger warnings: Hurricanes, disappearance of an adoptive mother, adoption