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julialandis727 's review for:
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
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:
Yes
Graphic depiction of escaping slavery that had me hooked the entire time. Very clever plotting choices— leaving leaving out certain details during an action scene made the initial read feel disjointed. Though, once the main character was in a more safe headspace she recounted the details of the action scene to us, making the previous action sequence more clear. The narrative style really matched the lack of consistency and trauma based memory loss that our main character faced.
there were some parts of the story about policing and the origins of the police force that were incredibly illuminating. police in the US were used widespread to capture runaway slaves. Policing as a system that is historically rooted in maintaining white supremacy is incredibly important historical context to learn more abt and this book did an incredible job at showing that (even though it’s a novel!).
there were some parts of the story about policing and the origins of the police force that were incredibly illuminating. police in the US were used widespread to capture runaway slaves. Policing as a system that is historically rooted in maintaining white supremacy is incredibly important historical context to learn more abt and this book did an incredible job at showing that (even though it’s a novel!).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Murder