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A review by happiestwhenreading
James by Percival Everett
4.0
I have never read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so I was a little hesitant to pick this one up. I felt a lot more confident after reading Sara's (@novelreads) substack with things to pay attention to and it was a tremedous resource (thank you, Sara!). Having said that, who knows if I would have gotten more out of the book with that background or not, but this review is definitely not coming from that place!
I liked this book. I felt like hearing from James' perspective really switched the narrative and I think it's something we will - and should - see more of in the future. Retellings are a great opportunity for this! As a white person, I was not uncomfortable with the truths presented...in fact, I think they're necessary and I hope to see more of it in the future. I easily sunk into Everett's writing and I enjoyed myself while reading it.
But, having said all of that, it still left me wanting more. The beginning was very slow and it wasn't until the middle that the story really started picking up for me. I also felt like a lot of the plot was convenient (mostly plot points were presented and resolved way too easily) and I would have liked Everett to work a little more for my praise.
I would absolutely recommend this book, but I wasn't as blown away as most people seem to have been.
I liked this book. I felt like hearing from James' perspective really switched the narrative and I think it's something we will - and should - see more of in the future. Retellings are a great opportunity for this! As a white person, I was not uncomfortable with the truths presented...in fact, I think they're necessary and I hope to see more of it in the future. I easily sunk into Everett's writing and I enjoyed myself while reading it.
But, having said all of that, it still left me wanting more. The beginning was very slow and it wasn't until the middle that the story really started picking up for me. I also felt like a lot of the plot was convenient (mostly plot points were presented and resolved way too easily) and I would have liked Everett to work a little more for my praise.
I would absolutely recommend this book, but I wasn't as blown away as most people seem to have been.