The Underground Railroad in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

May 15, 2018 Maryam rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

.When Mabel was pregnant with Cora, she would apologize to the unborn child for bringing her into the world, just as she apologized to Cora for making her a stray

This book was highly praised last year and that is the reason I picked it up and I can't deny its message but still it was neither full fiction not a history book. It dangled in between and that is the reason I didn't give it a better rate.

Cora, the protagonist, is very well developed and believable. She moves through all brutality of ...more

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Aug 19, 2019 Marisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, grown-up-books, historical-fiction, 2019

I *just* finished this, and I'm still sort of processing. It's really hard to read books about slavery. It's impossible not to feel guilt for the crimes of your ancestors. It's really hard, but it's completely necessary. And this one is so incredibly well written, and the audio is AMAZING. I will come back to this one and read it in print in a while. ...more

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Mar 13, 2017 alana rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook, alternate-history, historical-fiction, history, oprah-book-club

hard to read but not. this mix of reimagining the underground railroad and aspects of history while also vividly weaving in research left me questioning my own understanding of the time period, specifically life after slavery in American history.

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May 11, 2018 Shayla rated it liked it

Shelves: library-book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 15, 2017 Talia rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult-fiction, readharder2017

It's been a really long time since I've read a slave narrative, and this one was difficult to read at times. There were parts where I had to close the book and give myself a moment before I could continue. So content-wise, very powerful. The writing style left me a touch cold, as it was a little too detached at times, and I was really hoping for some more character development, especially with Cora. I think the book not being in 1st person didn't help either.
Just based on the story, this was an ...more

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