felifae's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
saoirsem's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Slavery, and Racism
mazza57's review
5.0
I received an ARC copy of this book via net galley in exchange for an honest review. I have read some of this author's non fiction and found something to love in them. I feel he has a real handle on what can and cannot be achieved.
This is my first fictional offering from him and I am finding it difficult to sum up what i feel. I avoid slave fiction like the plague. I find it too depressing, despite its truth I don't read to come way feeling sickened by a book This book however has a mystery of lyricism and prose and whilst it does have some elements of the suffering of these people it wraps it up in their struggle to come through it. It is not an easy read, I found I could only do so much at a time but it is a representation of slavery that brought me a real understanding of the people and the places.
The "fantastical" conduction elements just added another dimension. I felt as if i was there. I have long resisted reading [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493178362l/30555488._SX50_.jpg|48287641] a book about essentially the same subject but I am so glad that I picked up Coates' offering. The feelings, evocation and emotion will stay with me for a long time.
This is my first fictional offering from him and I am finding it difficult to sum up what i feel. I avoid slave fiction like the plague. I find it too depressing, despite its truth I don't read to come way feeling sickened by a book This book however has a mystery of lyricism and prose and whilst it does have some elements of the suffering of these people it wraps it up in their struggle to come through it. It is not an easy read, I found I could only do so much at a time but it is a representation of slavery that brought me a real understanding of the people and the places.
The "fantastical" conduction elements just added another dimension. I felt as if i was there. I have long resisted reading [b:The Underground Railroad|30555488|The Underground Railroad|Colson Whitehead|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1493178362l/30555488._SX50_.jpg|48287641] a book about essentially the same subject but I am so glad that I picked up Coates' offering. The feelings, evocation and emotion will stay with me for a long time.
krunkjess's review
3.0
Beautifully written but I’m struggling with this one. A captivating story with twists and turns that happen so abruptly they give you whiplash. I was invested and in many times sick to my stomach but the magical realism negated a lot of what I loved about this book. I think it took away from the struggle that really happened. Saying it was magic that freed so many slaves seems to discredit the work that real people did to help so many.
marymccallum99's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
1.0
Slow, slow, slow. I had to push to finish the book.
jcharlton's review
3.0
Written very well. Magical realism is the genre, not my favorite. Good story and characters.
erincharp's review
4.0
I so badly wanted to give this book five stars, but the magical realism lost me--and it usually doesn't. I just wanted the story of Hiram Walker, a boy whose intelligence and photographic memory was wasted because of the color of his skin and how he still rose to majestic heights in spite of it. I loved that part of the story, but Conduction tying into the Underground Railroad was too much of a plot jump for me.
kimwarren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
grubnubble's review against another edition
5.0
A story from the Underground Railroad with a touch of magical realism. Would pair well with the movie Harriet.
beatrice_k's review
3.0
There are parts of this novel that are so great but in general it’s so weighed down by the brilliant conceit at its center and the explanation of that conceit that anything good is totally lost in the exhausting process of reading this story.