What a masterpiece. As an English teacher who once taught Huck Finn, this is the novel I’ve always wanted to read. Jim, or James, as he prefers, invites us into the world that was always left out of this tale. The ending smacks of delicious and righteous retribution.

A+++ I'm not a person who gets excited about classic literature or who's usually going to go out of my way to read a re-telling but this was a biting, brilliant, swashbuckling good time.

Top read of 2024 - surprising, subversive, smart, and profound. Everett rewrites the classic story of Tom Sawyer while creating something entirely new in the process.

This was our book club pick and we had such a phenomenal discussion of it. Having watched and loved American Fiction, I trusted this novel would be worth the hype and it truly was. Glad to have purchased a copy to have on my shelves and read again sometime. Beautiful & humorous yet pointed prose.

It's incredible to watch a classic being born. This book is certain to be on high school and college curriculums for decades to come. Just as brilliant as all the hype leads up to believe.

Truly one of the best books of the year. I am so overwhelmed by how amazing this book was. I finished it at the end of the year and am still thinking about the genius that it took to write this book. Re-work and re-tell a story that is so deep in the American cultural lexicon and do it so interestingly. This book blew my mind.

Wow! I devoured this book. I would like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of it.

This is my fifth read of 2024 and my first 5 star of the new year. The story is a retelling or revamping of Twain's, Huckleberry Finn, but so much more than that. A prior knowledge of Twain's classic is helpful, but a reread of it certainly is not necessary.

Everett's novel uses Jim (who we all know from Huck Finn was the runaway slave and Huck's companion while they were both on the run), as his story's voice. Jim, as a narrator, is not only honest and witty, but raw and refined. All of the nuances that Jim's voice brings to the novel are exactly what makes it so powerful. His voice adds a whole new level of understanding to Twain's pre Civil War story.

Yes, Twain was such a masterful storyteller, but Everett's James gives the reader an entire new magnitude of awareness concerning the topics that Twain was sometimes criticized for presenting. Everett definitely puts his own spin on the loved classic. Jim is James and a formidable one at that.

After nearly a year post-publication, this book is still being talked about and it's a long wait to get a copy at the library. That tells you all you need to know. A good selection for book clubs.

It reminds me a bit of Hernan Diaz's Trust, in that it highlights how the narrator's perspective can overshadow critical aspects to other characters.

This was my favorite book of 2024. I loved Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as a child, and I'm so happy Percival Everett gave Jim/James the story he deserved. Simply wonderful!

In case you've been living under rock, this book is amazing! Everett has been receiving all of the awards and flowers for this brilliant piece of work. I loved this fresh reimagining of Jim (who prefers being called James) and Huckleberry Finn. It gave me all of the nostalgia of reading as a kid and getting a rush from the adventures but with a new insight. Especially seeing James code-switch in the opposite because seeing the enslaved speak eloquently bewildered the white people threw me off every single time. I couldn't help but laugh! I was reading this wondering what kind of things go through Everett's head to be able to create something like this. I would love to know! It's something about that incredible sense of humor. And we got to the biggest twist I just had to sit there and process it! I will be visiting my Percival Everett backlist to see other type of works that his brain has come up with!

I add my praise to all the others, this book was excellent. I taught Huck Finn for a few years, so I know the story well. The second half of the book diverges quite a bit, and I believe that's where the real power of this novel is. It's powerful.

My favorite book of 2024. This story was an absolute masterpiece. Such a clever and unique idea to tell a classic story from another character's POV.. This was executed perfectly: the writing, the story itself, the pacing... all of it. Just amazing.

Everyone has their own different idea of what is humorous. I certainly didn’t find this novel “ferociously funny”as advertised, but the reimagining of Twain’s genius Huckleberry Finn, certainly was “harrowing”. Told from the slave Jim’s point of view, the reader gets a very realistic look at the degradation and brutality of slave life prior to the Civil War.
Highly recommended.

As everyone knows by now, this book has been THE book of 2024, and I feel like one of the very last ones to read it. It took me a while to finally pick it up because I was worried it would feel like homework. Despite being an English major, I typically don't enjoy the classics and shy away from books that take place before the 1900s. Thankfully, I listened to everyone else and was hooked by the first page. I absolutely LOVED it and I can finally understand all the hype. Percival Everett is a genius. His writing is spectacular. He's clever and insightful. And I can't WAIT to read his backlist. Where should I start?

JAMES is deserving of every bit of hype, every bit of praise and glowing review and award. There were beautiful, sweeping passages, moments that made me laugh out loud, and horrific scenes of brutality.

So glad to have finally read this one and not at all surprised it's been so beloved.

A brilliant retelling of 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘯. It's emotional and clever and a must-read.

4.75 stars

Thanks to Doubleday for the copy to review.

There's a reason why it has become one of the biggest books of the year. Destined to become a modern classic. Smart, propulsive, unforgettable.

Oh Percival Everett, a Charles Dickens fanfiction never looked so good. This was a wonderfully poignant and entertaining examination of Huck Finn, challenging the original text and creating a whole new world of perspective and depth in its own right.

Loved this alternative point of view and story line for this reimagined "Huckleberry Finn" story! I will definitely be adding this to my high school library's collection. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for the ARC opportunity.

The story of JAMES is pretty much the same story as Huck Finn but through a different lens and a different angle, which I found absolutely fascinating. It’s been some time since I’ve read the source material, but I remember Jim feeling a bit like a caricature rather than a fully fleshed out character, so it was amazing to see him take control of his own narrative here.

This book is not an easy read. Yes, the writing flows and the pacing is fast, but the content is full of difficult conversations about slavery, racism, and the human condition. Through James’ eyes we see pre-Civil War America in all its brutal, dehumanizing glory.

This book had a couple of unexpected twists that left me frantically turning pages, and towards the end when the narrative begins to change from that of the source material, every moment had me on the edge of my seat. To put it plainly, this book was expertly crafted. 5 stars, no notes.