Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

75 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Whew. This one is a really rough read, but the writing is so excellent. It's extremely distressing, but it's an important read. Absolutely will read this author again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Torture, Death, Gore, Grief, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Stalking, Trafficking, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Child abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Animal death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Medical content

tushhh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.25

I really thought I was going to love this book more than I did. I don't even want to really admit that, but its true. It was slow for the most part which is why it took me a while to pick it up and the gaps between me reading grew longer. I really liked Cora and her being the embodiment of persistence and striving for Freedom at any and every cost. Because in a situation like that you WILL fight for your life.

Of course where we're sections that were hard to read. I love historical fiction and I learned so much about the disgusting ways in which slaves were treated through these characters! The weekly community lynching and the road with hung people was crazy to me. Overall the pacing was slow but there were tense and more fast-paced moments scattered throughout. 

I'm not sure what would have made it any better tbh. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Murder, Slavery, Death, and Violence

dianaschmidty's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Slavery, Racial slurs, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Death, Torture, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, Gun violence, Gore, and Confinement

passionatereader78'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? It's complicated

3.5

This book is brutal! You follow a run away slave, Cora on her journey to freedom. This journey brings alot of the atrocities against black Americans to light. There is alot of violence in this book; however it's a great resource for someone who wants to know more about black injustice and likes magic realism. Great bookclub read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Torture, Blood, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Rape, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

itsbumley's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Trafficking

mads_reads_books's review

dark reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Genocide, Slavery, Violence, Stalking, and Racism

Moderate: Incest, Colonisation, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Murder, Death, Suicide, and Trafficking

nukie19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Sexual assault, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Rape, Blood, and Gore

unboxedjack's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Grief, Suicide, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder, Racism, Torture, Hate crime, and Suicide attempt

aqtbenz's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Death, Rape, Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 The Underground Railroad was a good story, but it's more than that. It's a good reminder. Colson Whitehead uses the narrative to talk about Cora's escape and journey on a literal underground railroad and reminds us of the many injustices against Black folks in historical America. He even pays tribute to the local Native American tribes and discusses land theft and murder.

The story itself was good - it lulled a bit in the middle from a narrative perspective, but that part was so important because it illustrated the persistence of hate. So while the middle exhibited less exciting storytelling, the pause left room for Colson Whitehead to share things like racial eugenics and the emergence of the Klu Klux Klan, which are important, horrifying aspects of our history.

Overall a very powerful book and highly recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Torture, Abandonment, and Body horror

Moderate: Medical content, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Blood, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Excrement

There are many Black characters and multiracial characters. There are a couple Native American characters (tribes not always shared). The book discusses racial eugenics in detail. There is a character who wears human remains as jewelry.