Reviews tagging 'Murder'

James by Percival Everett

40 reviews

zsaleh's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense

• 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: Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Racism, Rape, Grief, Sexual assault, Classism, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Cursing, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War and Alcohol

mstrypie5's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Murder, Rape, and Torture

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Loved the retelling of Huckleberry Finn through Jim’s voice. Any school teaching Huckleberry souls also teach James at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Police brutality, Stalking, War, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Murder, Rape, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

smileymiley550's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and War

lwkitchens52's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Rape, and Slavery

oz2021's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, Murder, Violence, and Racism

Minor: Rape

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, Alcohol, Slavery, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Murder, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

usetheforcekate's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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? N/A

5.0

I read Huck Finn in an English class in 7th grade. It made zero impression on me and I don't remember any of it.

This book I will remember.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Trafficking, Racism, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Violence, and Torture

alexhaydon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

Every time I read an Everett I end up saying it’s my new favourite 
😅 I haven’t read Huckleberry Finn but I’m desperate to now.
Without blabbering on, this novel was pacy, cinematic, tense and at times darkly humerous. A story detailing the lengths taken in order to protect ourselves and our family, the ones we love and the cost it all comes at. It was at moments absolutely harrowing, and in few others ridiculous. Vastly set upon the Mississippi River, the current was reflected in the novels pace and events. It displayed how the earth and land can be both a tool for survival and of destruction. At the end of it all, it was a tale of the enduring faith and fight of the human spirit. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Gore, Death, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual violence

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

 James is a fabulous read in which Percival Everett takes the character of Jim, an enslaved man from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and centres him, giving him his own voice in his own story. He tells a very different story while still sticking closely to the tone and plot of the original, particularly in the first half of the novel. The humour is still there but looks very different when seen through a different pair of eyes - an intelligent and kind man strategically humouring a pair of kids who are nowhere near as quiet and clever as they think they are, rather than a "dumb slave" falling prey to a kids' prank. The atmosphere of the journey down river feels totally different when seen through the eyes of a man whose life would be in grave danger if he was discovered, versus a child, even one with an abusive father, who is having a fun adventure. When Huck and Jim are separated, the storylines Everett creates for Jim seem entirely plausible and often show aspects of the Black experience not shown in Twain's original. Where Everett did veer from the Twain's text, it felt done deliberately and with purpose, often to make a point about the Black experience then, and now. The violence at the end of the novel is just one example of this. Yes, it did feel slightly out for line with Jim's (now James's, an important distinction) character and behaviour to date, but I think that was point. When people are pushed beyond the limits, when the system looks set to cost them everything and everyone they love, when they've been pushed to the limit and see no way other way, then violence isn't a surprise. In many ways, it's simply self-defence. Everett highlighted the power of reading and writing, and the fear literate, educated Blacks held for white society. This also led to some of the book's more humorous scenes, when Jim is teaching the children to alter their speech patterns around white people and when he gets into debates with philospohers such as Locke and Voltaire, with the satirical humour lying in the limitations of white people, their inability to see the truth beyond their limited and racist preconceptions of Blacks.
There is one surprise reveal towards the end of the book that I wasn't fully convinced by, despite being able to see some reasons for it. But it's a relatively small quibble about a novel that is not just a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience in its own right, but one that I think will forever change how we think about one of America's classic novels. It's incisive in its critique, providing a perspective which was all too often lacking or misrepresented in much nineteenth century literature, while still treating the original with respect. And it doesn't take a lot of imagination to extend its lessons and insights to contemporary society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Racism, and Violence