Scan barcode
rochellem's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Suicide
ehmannky's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
This book is excellent, but it's not a particularly easy or pleasant read. It's an unrelenting look at the myriad and downright creative ways that white Americans caused violent trauma towards Black people. Turning the Underground Railroad into a literal railroad was a creative masterstroke, though I wish more had been done with the setting in the actual story). I also feel like it's important that this book is set decades before the Civil War, because it emphasizes that yes freedom came eventually, but for many people like Cora's mother and so many of the Black people she meets along her journey, that freedom never comes and they die at the hands of white people and their system of pain and suffering. Although Cora does makes it out to freedom in the fabled North , this isn't a particularly hopeful novel and the ending is about as downer as I can imagine. I feel like this book is going to get embedded in the literature as a Classic, and rightly so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Trafficking, Rape, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Blood
Minor: Suicide and Child death
hannahkt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Read for my Introduction to American Literature class.
A compelling work of speculative fiction that feels all to real and current in the moment we live in, both in 2016 and in 2021.
A compelling work of speculative fiction that feels all to real and current in the moment we live in, both in 2016 and in 2021.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
More...