Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

109 reviews

sprucy2427's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

lovegriefandgender's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent fiction, and even more brilliant and scalding on a re-read. Its skill is in exploring the different faces of racism and the relentless disappointment of what looks like progression. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

kalzu's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

arijones91's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Xenophobia

zoellu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

charley0796's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I started this book thinking I was going to become completely absorbed and obsessed. The book started off in a very informative way, with a newspaper reporting feel. There’s high risk pursuits, tension and death. But I think it was the shock which kept me going. 

I know many people have critiques the reality of the book, with many saying they didn’t like the fact the Underground Railroad was actually underground. I disagree, I thought this added a nice element of mystery to it and didn’t worry myself with the science of making such it! It also didn’t bother me that the historical accuracy might not have been on point because I knew that a lot of what was mentioned - the sterilisations and syphilis - is actually true. 

What did bother me about this book was the choice to write in such a detached way. I felt like I was reading a newspaper report of fiction. I didn’t bond to the characters at all, I didn’t know what motivated Cora, nor did relate to her beyond her being a bookworm who occasionally critiqued white supremacy in her thoughts but never voiced them. There were so many names to remember, with many characters coming in just for a chapter before disappearing or dying. At first, I was shocked that one character died and promptly wondered what the point of him being included was. By the end of the book I stopped bothering with learning names and wondering about the point of a new character, they’d just die anyway. Now I don’t mind character deaths - but I didn’t even have time to get to know them or care about them, despite them being a big part of the characters life! Some chapters would also be inserted with random characters that were of no consequence - like one of a grave robber. 

In sum, I love the idea of this book, it just needs more emotion and thought to help me bond to the story and characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

sedgewren's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

A heartbreakingly brilliant piece of writing that illustrates the atrocities of chattel slavery in America. It was illuminating how different each state was in their stance on slaves, freemen and slavery - this helped me understand present-day racism in America based on historical attitudes.

Although written in an approachable, relatable and interesting way, I found this book difficult to get through due to the content of the story - in this way, Whitehead's story had the exact impact on me that I think he was aiming for.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

peeniewallie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Medical content

lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead is an American author. He is the author of eight novels, including his 1999 debut work, "The Intuitionist", and "The Underground Railroad",  for which he acquired the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction again in 2020 for "The Nickel Boys". He has further published two works of non-fiction. In 2002, he won a MacArthur Genius Grant.

"The Underground Railroad" starts on an evil Georgia plantation, where all anyone wants to do is escape. "Every slave reasons about it, in the morning tide and the afternoon and the nighttime. Dreaming of it. Each dreams a dream of freedom, yet when it didn't look like it." We meet Ajarry, stolen from her West African village and across the ocean on a slave boat. Her daughter, Mabel, flees the plantation and its disgusting owner, Randall, prompting a wild and empty search, and Cora, Mabel's daughter, our protagonist.
Cora and another slave Caesar are led down to a platform where rails extend into darkness and the North.

The novel is written in the third person singular and the past. The story is set during the 19th century.

The central theme of the book is slavery, and it affects people, predominantly black and natives. Although it was fascinating to read about it, it would have been better to read it in the first person since sometimes it felt a bit too objective and even a bit dry to read about the Experience of the people. 

Freedom is another motive of the book. It is explained by which I live version of the railroad; however, since this is the only fantasy element in this book, it was pretty tricky sometimes to grasp everything else could've happened in real life then.

It is hard to rate this book. However, I did not feel connected with the characters at all and even felt like they didn't have any human features of the world as a personality; however, I do have to say that this book is insane research, and I would still recommend reading it just because of that however I do think if you want to learn about American history, it is better to read a novel written by people who have left during bedtime or even hysterical non-fiction books. Overall the story felt a bit lacklustre, And I would have wished to like this book more, but sadly I cannot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jkiranjot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Minor: Religious bigotry