This book's writing was fantastic. The Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Los Angeles Times both published favorable reviews of it. She writes in the style of Toni Morrison. On page 49, one of the characters says, "you'll live past the end of the world," and I believe that will be true of how these characters stay with you. The details on New Orleans, Atlanta, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as a person's life in the foster care system... well researched.

None But the Righteous

I am intrigued by confused by this book. Ham is a 19 year old man who hasn't really had a home, but he's guided by a saint bone necklace -- and he's on a Greyhound bus somewhere between Georgia & Alabama.

The writing here is very songlike and mesmerizing - I would pick up this book for that quality alone. However, I was left puzzled and scratching at my head at many of the plot points in this book. This is a book that I think I would've enjoyed much more in print than I did audio - I missed a lot of the relevant parts that would have made the experience more impactful for me.

Overall I give this one 3/5 stars - thanks so much for the ARC for a review, Netgalley!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was certainly different but very interesting. TW for animal abuse/death tho.

I had to pick this one up a couple of times before I was able to finish. The synopsis really pulled me in, but the story just fell flat. While some may find beauty in it's berevity, it felt more like I lost out on something that could have been great.

The premise for this book is fantastic: Ham, a young man left wandering after Hurricane Katrina wears a small fragment of a saint’s bone on a necklace, a connection that allows the saint to seize control of Ham’s body and guide him.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get into this book. I struggled to follow the narrative, and found myself rewinding the audiobook to listen to portions again. This book is described as a “southern gothic fever dream,” and it succeeds in disorienting the reader throughout the narrative. I was really excited to read this book, but it fell short for me.

“I know that we do not belong only to ourselves, that what loves us also seizes us.”

NONE BUT THE RIGHTEOUS is a striking, lyrical novel about a young Black man, Ham, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It’s narrated by St. Martin de Porres, a 17th century Peruvian Dominican saint who possesses Ham when he is given a relic (a small piece of bone from the saint’s body imbued with his spirit) as a child. He tells the story of Ham as he travels from Atlanta to Alabama and then back home to New Orleans, bouncing from one house to another, finding work where he can, ruminating on his relationships with others - his foster mother, a close childhood friend, a young woman he’s been seeing, his unborn child - and ultimately Ham’s relationship with himself, interrupted by traumas both recent and past. It’s a powerful and beautiful story about grief, dislocation and disassociation (from place, from self), and finding a way back home. James’ writing dazzles here, gorgeous sentences shining out from every page. The use of Ham and other biblical names, the benign possession, the narrative style, and the elegiac quality of the story lend it mythic proportions. I highly recommend this breathtaking novel, with an incredible audiobook performance for those listening. Thank you to Counterpoint Press for the review copy and to Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

Content warnings: child abuse/neglect, death of a loved one

This haunting novel is narrated by a spirit who inhabits the book's protagonist, Ham, a lost foster child grown into a man with no real place to call home. The spirit enters Ham thanks to a relic put around his neck by a foster mom to bind him to her, but he enters him most easily when he's drunk, when Ham wants "to leave himself." I found this concept, that our bodies can be taken over by roving spirits when we're too intoxicated to resist -- or even seeking to be taken over by someone else -- totally fascinating and worthy of a whole novel by itself.

This, however, is just one aspect of the novel, the rest concerning itself with the various women and a few men with whom Ham builds relationships as he grows up. When he's 11 he meets Mayfly, a well-raised middle-class girl who left home at 18 and never looked back. Mayfly is dirty with wild dreads, she lives communally in squatters villages. Ham loves hanging out with her and the other squatters and feels most at home when he's with them. His last foster mom, Miss Pearl, makes clear she doesn't care about him nearly as much as she does her own son, Wally, but Ham is able to be remarkably forgiving about this (far more forgiving than my own foster child was about any difference in my feelings). When a huge hurricane destroys his hometown, Ham is drawn back to look for Miss Pearl, who's gone missing.

Ham's final relationship with with a woman named Debra who becomes pregnant with his child and wants him to stay with her though acts indifferent when he leaves. Many of the characters in this novel behave in ways that are as inexplicable to themselves as to each other (and the reader), which strikes me as very true to life. We are often our own worst enemies, and the people in this novel demonstrate myriad ways of turning on themselves.

I was most touched by Ham's rapport with the field laborers with whom he works a couple of jobs and how at home he feels, how ensconced in a brotherhood, when they work all day together, then sing and drink and play games in the evening, then sleep hard before rising to do it all again. I worried this might romanticize farm laboring a bit, but Ham was just so hungry for belonging that it was believable he would seek and find it in this rough camp of men.

In the end, we sense that Ham is finding his way toward being able to make real connections despite the fractured ones he's endured all his life, and for this we are very glad. I highly recommend this moving novel, the audiobook of which I was provided for free in exchange for my honest review.

Very interesting and fast paced historical fiction. This novel brings us back to a difficult time for many, and is sure to stimulate interesting conversations on inequality in the aftermath of a disaster.

I did not finish this book. I thought from the blurb that it would be more gothic speculative fiction but it was more literary fiction. I think this book could have used multiple narrators we are constantly going from different characters thoughts but it was hard to tell because other than female characters voice changes it was hard to distinguish Ham's voice from other mail characters.

I just couldn’t get into this book. I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style and the narrators voice was a little to monotone for me. I finished the book, but it was a very slow read for me. I can’t say that it was a bad book, I just didn’t enjoy the writing style which made it difficult for me to really get into.

I have to be honest, literary fiction isn’t my favourite but I gave this book a chance because it sounded so fascinating. Set in New Orleans? Sign me up. Elements of voodoo and spirituality? Heck yes! Psychological thriller? Love it.

Unfortunately this one didn’t live up to my expectations. I wouldn’t call this book a psychological thriller by any means, it’s definitely more of a slow burn, lyrical work of prose that I believe is best suited for readers of classics and poetry.

The first 70% of this was gruellingly difficult for me. I debated giving up on this book so many times, but felt I owed it to myself to pick it up again. Oddly enough, I’m glad that I did. I don’t want to say the last chunk was redeeming for me, but there were some beautiful moments and quotes. For example, one line that really struck me - “we do not belong only to ourselves, that what loves us also seizes us”. I would genuinely get that tattooed because of how beautiful I think it is.

So while I didn’t find this book exciting per my standards, I can imagine how someone with a more ~refined~ taste in books would enjoy this. I can see myself recommending it to customers who are English majors for sure!







Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a free audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

A unique novel with lovely prose, intriguing characters, and a touching story of a young man searching for belonging and meaning.

[What I liked:]

•This book has a really interesting voice & framing. The spirit of St. Martin de Porres narrates the story of Ham, the young man whose body he’s spiritually possessing for most of the book. Interwoven are glimpses of Martin’s human life, his adventures as a disembodied spirit trapped on earth, Ham’s childhood, & Martin’s musings on Ham’s feelings and actions. I’ve never read a book quite like this, & it was well done!

•The characterizations are subtle and have depth. Martin at times helps Ham, at times forces him to act against his will, but seems to be a mostly neutral if not benevolent force. Ham starts off as aimless, searching half-heartedly for a place to belong, & slowly gains agency & belonging as the story progresses.

•The prose and writing style are fluid & beautiful, insightful and skilled. It was a pleasure to read.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•It was really difficult at first to figure out who was narrating & who Ham was. That could’ve been handled more smoothly.

CW: sexism, racism, classism, violence, spiritual possession

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I am not a fan of this book at all. I really don't understand the purpose of this book, it jumps from past to present too often and doesn't create a smooth transition. The spirit uses great vocabulary to describe every aspect of this book. I am not sure what to make of it honestly, just not a good story line.

2.5 stars

I listed to this book on audio. I listened intently because I kept thinking "um, what?" while listening. Not very eloquent, I know but I honestly had a hard time trying to figure this book out. Described as a "southern gothic fever dream" I wanted to read this. They synopsis was very intriguing to me. As I sit writing this review, I still don't know what to make of this book.

Ham is a nineteen-year-old young man who is adrift. He hasn't ever had a real home. One thing to know about Ham - he wears a saints' bone in a necklace around his neck. He is guided by this saint so one would think this young man would make the right choices, have all his ducks in a row and know what to do.

Hurricane Katrina has just ravaged the area and Ham is on a greyhound somewhere between Georgia and Alabama. He is going to be a father. What will life hold when his child is born?

That is the question!

Again, interesting synopsis, and while I enjoyed some of it, I did not care for the ending - not one bit! Plus, as I stated above, I still don't know what to make of this book. I don't know how to articulate that I found parts enjoyable and others not so much. I wanted more about the spirit, I wanted more about how it influenced him.

I agree with descriptions that say this book is lyrical. Some call it haunting, some are praising this book highly. Perhaps that was just too much over my head. I wondered while listening if I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read it instead of listening to it.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Not a fan. Feels a bit purple prose for me with not real plot or distinction.

The hopping around from past to present and perspective to perspective it a lot.

Entirely possible I just don’t get it.