Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

89 reviews

gabi12's review against another edition

slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Murder

goodoldfashionedidiot's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I did like the book, but the writing was somewhat confusing and I think on some parts it was written to fast and then again to slow. I never could completely fall into the storys, which is probably a good thing considering the topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment

alicialoebl's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-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? Yes

5.0

The twists made the book go so fast, such a tough topic but really informative and emotional 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

chloegshort's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It was a very good book. I really liked to be able to see the perspective of someone that was escaping slavery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Murder

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child death and Suicide

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

stevie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Murder

feodora_isabella's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I started reading this book because of the current protests against racism in the United States (June 2020) and think it is a must read. As I white person I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement and I want to educate myself about racism and white privilege. I chose the right book to start with, because it shows America's true face and can help us better understand both its past and present. The books tells the story of Cora, a slave girl who flees the cotton plantation she has lived on her whole life. She is hunted down by a slave catcher called Ridgeway. On the way, she travels far and meets many people. The Underground Railroad exists for real in this book, and serves as metaphor for the country itself.  'Every state is different," Lumbly was saying. "Each one a state of possibility, with its own customs and ways of doing things. Moving through them, you'll see the breadth of the country before you reach your final stop. (...) Following Lumbly's final instructions, Cora looked through the slats. There was only darkness, mile after mile.' I personally think this metaphor is intriguing and works very well. You almost forget this is a work of fiction, because it  could have been real. The railroad also has a mysterious element to it: nobody directly answers Cora when she asks who built it.  'All the railroad men, from Lumbly to Royal, countered with a variation of "Who do you think made it? Who makes everything?" She would get him to tell her one day, she decided.' The answer is, of course, the black people. The book is brutally honest, showing the horrors of slavery and the hardships faced by those born with a dark skin in America. Even when they had escaped their masters, they were (and are to this day) never free of the white people. It is heartbreaking to see that since those times so little has changed, that black people still have to deal with racism and discrimination in 2020, that they cannot feel safe. Please read this book. The subject matter is heavy, but so important.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Murder

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

I recently watched a YouTube video explaining the grimdark genre. The video described the origin of the genre, Warhammer. But I wonder—what could be a better indication of grimdark than the gruesome horrors and cruelties visited upon enslaved Black people in the United States? I'd consider this

(very nearly)

part of that genre.

Note: the book doesn't go into more detail than is needed, so I wouldn't consider it trauma porn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol