A review by katrod
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

There’s no doubt that this is an important read and a well written novel, but there were aspects that didn’t work for me.  I think I went in with expectations too high and I just couldn’t get past the fact that Whitehead wrote the Underground Railroad as an actual secret network of trains underground.  I just didn’t understand why he chose to represent it that way and it made me feel disconnected from the story.  

The descriptions of Cora’s journey also felt very matter of fact and it put distance between the reader and her experiences.  Of course I was enraged and horrified by what she was going through, but I would have liked to be brought into her mindset a little more rather than just have the facts laid out.