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.

I was worried that it had been a looong time since I read Huckleberry Finn and I wouldn't remember a lot of these references. But 'James' stands alone on it own as a fantastic novel. The characters are so rich and developed, and Everett is able to capture the horrors of slavery and racism in a way that most authors can't. I loved how fast-paced this felt, and the urgent tone made it even more powerful. This is, for sure, a novel that I'll be recommending to other readers.

Thank you to and Netgalley for the digital arc.
This is an incredible book that should not be missed. It checks all the boxes to become a classic.

This is a new classic! It reads wonderfully as a standalone, so if you haven't read Huckleberry Finn, it's not necessary in order to enjoy this book. This is a classic that will be read for decades to come.

Percival Everett is the master of satire. Coming off his Academy Award-winning rendition of his 20-year-old book Erasure, he turns his attention to the retelling of Huckleberry Finn. This version is told by Jim. The secret Jim carries along with other enslaved people is their manner of speech is just to fool the White people. When they are not around, they speak like anyone else, but when a White person enters, they use what they refer to as the slave vernacular. It is this secret, and the fact that the Black men and women featured in Twain's work had an inner life, opinions, as well as hopes and dreams, that drive the narrative. While Twain's work acknowledges there is slavery, we go through a good portion of the book without seeing the horrors of that. Everett seeks to rectify that.

The story begins the same, but we see Jim's perspective. When Huckleberry Finn is thought to have been killed by Jim, they must escape. In their hiding spot, Jim is bitten by a snake and has hallucinations of famous thinkers who would inspire the country's Founding Fathers to create a "free society." This technique runs throughout the story, where Jim has arguments with Voltaire and other European thinkers who spoke on man's right to freedom. He asks about the nature of freedom and equality and why he is not included in that discussion.

When Huckleberry Finn and Jim are separated, we follow Jim, and Everett has the opportunity to open up the narrative about Jim and other enslaved Black men and women. We see some in terrible conditions and others all too happy to work with their masters against their own people. We see horrors where an enslaved man is whipped and lynched over a missing pencil. When they return home, Jim get's revenge in a satisfying way.


Favorite Passages:

“How strange a world, how strange an existence, that one’s equal must argue for one’s equality, that one’s equal must hold a station that allows airing of that argument, that one cannot make that argument for oneself, that premises of said argument must be vetted by those equals who do not agree.”

“Then I thought, How could he know that I was actually reading? I could simply claim to be staring dumbly at the letters and words, wondering what in the world they meant. How could he know? At that moment the power of reading made itself clear and real to me. If I could see the words, then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn’t even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding them out or comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and, therefore, completely subversive.”

“A pencil.”
An ice-cold spear hit the back of my stomach. “A what?”
“A pencil. Can you believe that? A slave was accused of stealing a damn pencil and they hanged him dead for it. They didn’t even find the pencil on him. What’s a slave need a pencil for? Can you believe that?”
“It’s hard to believe, all right.” I could feel the pencil in my pocket. I was taken then by the fact that I thought of it as the pencil and not my pencil.
“It’s a horrible world. White people try to tell us that everything will be just fine when we go to heaven. My question is, Will they be there? If so, I might make other arrangements.” Easter laughed.”

“It’s actually a simple question, Hopkins. Which would frighten you more? A slave who is crazy or a slave who is sane and sees you clearly?”

“Nigger, you are in more trouble than you can imagine,” he said.
“Why on Earth would you think that I can’t imagine the trouble I’m in? After you’ve tortured me and eviscerated me and emasculated me and left me to burn slowly to death, is there something else you’ll do to me? Tell me, Judge Thatcher, what is there that I can’t imagine?”
He squirmed in the chair.
“Could you have imagined a black man, a slave, a nigger, talking to you like this? Who’s lacking in imagination?”

James was a book I could not have anticipated more highly. Since I saw the announcement for this title, I have said that this will win the 2025 Pulitzer Prize, and I had only seen one review before reading that didn’t rave.

I did not like this book. I will not go into detail because that’s not the point of this post, but this book did not work for me on any level. Many folks on here whose taste I connect with and whose thoughts I appreciate have loved it. I see none of the wonderful things they’re saying about this title.