The Trees by Percival Everett

I went into The Trees fairly blind. I needed an audiobook and decided to see if any of the Booker books were available - The Trees was there via my library, so I had absolutely nothing to lose.

For the first half of the book I was wowed, and a bit shocked, because the edgy satire wasn't what I was expecting. The Trees is a genre mashup that includes murder mystery, some southern gothic vibes (complete with ghosts and the supernatural) and historical fiction, set in Money, Mississippi. And although the tone and dialogue often had me laughing, the history behind the story is anything but funny. This novel was a very unique way to portray racism and the horrific history of lynchings in the deep south. It's a story of revenge and evil but in the most original of formats.

However, at about 3/4 of the way in, I felt as though something changed and it went from being skilled and creative storytelling to off the rails and just plain silly. The momentum was totally lost by the end and it turned into an unresolved mess that felt, well, childish. The finesse all but disappeared.

I was shocked because it had a ton of promise, but fell off a cliff.