Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

142 reviews

freshbatchofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I know I rate a lot of books 5 stars, but this is probably in my top 5 of this year

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, and Rape

Minor: Medical trauma

jazhandz's review

DNF at 68%, for two reasons. The first is, put simply, I didn’t care. I put the book down for two weeks and came back and didn’t want to put in the effort of relearning names. Whitehead is a really capable writer, but nothing about this grabbed me. Which brings me to the second reason: he has said before that he wanted to bring the Underground Railroad to life and literalization. And it’s totally wasted here, which I found frustrating. The literal, actual Underground Railroad of trains is not compelling, not focal enough to matter, and not vague enough to stop me from having practical concerns. I think if I finished it, it would’ve been a three-star read, but after my break from reading it, finishing it didn’t feel worthwhile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, Slavery, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Excrement

vanyavampi118's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

An inspiring read of a woman fighting for her freedom. Packed with brutality and sadness. A sad story of a horrible time in history, very insightful. Would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

candide_woodard's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A heart-wrenching novel about the atrocities of slavery and the high stakes of escape. Personally, Whitehead’s writing style wasn’t my favorite but I loved Cora’s perseverance and learning about the Underground Railroad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Rape, and Physical abuse

alyssagirardi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Physical abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Child death, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, and Sexual violence

gailsage_thomps's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Hate crime, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Infertility

s3lin's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

rainieschulte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Rape

belle2008's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War, and Vomit

raynatuina's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A book every single person should, and needs to, read. The world would be a better place for it if we understood the times we came from and the times that still drive too much of today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Genocide and Rape