A review by clarehiyama
The Trees by Percival Everett

challenging dark funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was hard to put down. As others have noted, it’s shockingly funny for a book that is primarily about the history of racist terror inflicted upon Black people (and other people of color) throughout the existence of the United States. I found the characters incredibly compelling: all are complicated and most are DEEPLY flawed, and they all play their parts in this book very well. I appreciated that Everett  pulled no punches in looking at the ugliness of racist white people while also giving readers a sense of the many flavors of that ugliness. The racists were not one dimensional, evil villains. They are in turns vile, childish, self-aware and embarrassed, and just plain stupid. It also was interesting to follow main characters who were mostly Black cops, and to read about how they negotiate their Blackness and their coppiness with both white folks and Black folks. And I just genuinely liked Ed, Jim, Herbie, Gertrude, and Mama Z. I also was particularly tickled by the Trump parts. Everett really captured his bizarre way of speaking. There’s a part where he calls Mike Pence “Mr. Juicy Fruit” that I will probably reference quite a bit.

I will say that there are racial slurs (mostly the n-word but others too) used a lot throughout the book, and there are pretty graphic descriptions of lynchings and other violence, so it is not going to be for everyone.

In short, I loved this book, and I’ll surely be seeking out more Percival Everett. 
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