4.5/5

This was a very thought provoking book. I picked it up for the LGBTQ themes and also because the author is an LGBTQ person born and living in S. Korea. I enjoyed how it came from the perspective of a "middle-aged" mother looking at her 30something daughter, and 80-90something elder she was the caretaker for. The ways she was thinking about so many things sheds light on the way different generations get fixated into a particular mindset because of societal expectations and/or what is "expected" of that age group. I think about the ways older generations in my family and other Asian communities do not understand sexuality, gender, social justice, etc -- and some will try to and others won't. But arguably, this can be seen in every age group, society just chooses to box elders into a "they're old so they don't know anything" category.

There's no happy ending or sad ending. I'm sure some things couldn't have been "properly" translated but I would definitely recommend this book regardless.

Harriet Tubman returning from the dead to create an album about her life? Turn this into a musical yesterday!!

What I loved most was how alive the history felt. Bob the Drag Queen (the Queen you are!) gives historical figures personality, humor, and humanity while highlighting stories that are too often overlooked and erased. The writing and narration made it feel like I was watching the project unfold in real time, and hearing the excitement of Bob’s narration just added to that.

As a teacher, I kept thinking how incredible this would be for teens/young adults. It opens the door to conversations about race, identity, resilience, queerness, and the ways history is remembered and taught. I mean come on, this as a readers theater?? Epic.

My only complaint is that I wanted more time with the historical figures. I was so invested in their stories that I wasn’t ready to leave them.

This was, creative, impactful, and completely unique.

Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen isn't a novel so much as it is a one-man show put on the page. The legendary drag queen comedian's style of delivery is all over every sentence. It sets up a deceptively simple premise and uses it to work through extremely themes of Blackness in America, generational trauma, finding joy and acceptance in community, and the intersections of identity. In this story, Bob imagines archetypal (or even stereotypical) characters and historical figures as brave iconoclasts, always straddling the line between angelic rhetorical plot devices and slightly goofy humans.

The storytelling really shows Bob's roots in theater, with each character often functioning more like a lens or rhetorical device, more of an embodiment of an idea than a fully realized person, existing as a reason to give the POV character, Darnell, a reason to reflect on whatever they represent. Darnell himself may also be considered a form of identity embodied. The choice to discuss contemporary identity and feelings through the lens of symbolic figures is one often seen in performing arts, but the use of these particular figures, within this framework, on the large stage Bob's platform provides, strikes me as bold and deliberate. Within the text, it seems sometimes that Bob struggles to reconcile with who this art is even for, between the personal struggle and the performance of marginalized identity... also a familiar beat in the performing arts.

It seems clear some of the intention of this book is to serve as a jumping off point for those who may not be educated on the subjects it tackles, from the the tensions between evangelical Christianity and Black queerness, to the suffering of enslaved peoples, to the history of abolition and the Underground railroad, and the systemic erasure of Black history and contributions from American historical narratives.

There is always a sense that even in a setting where the Darnell can literally 'know' each of these characters, that they only share one part of themselves and are impossible to ever know. I think some readers will find this frustrating, but I think this plays into the metafiction that I'm sure would play even better if I had listened to the audiobook.

This is what I’m on this fucking earth for—music, humor, and philosophical conversations on freedom, religion/spirituality, and humanity. I loved every second of this book. It almost read like a play. I could imagine the characters on a stage acting out the scenes in the studio and the way they moved around.

Bob the Drag Queen has such a fantastic way with words and I never knew whether I would be crying from laughing my ass off, crying from how angry I was, or crying because of how vulnerable and kind the characters were with each other. So much crying!!

Everything flowed so seamlessly and fit in with the theme of freedom—freeing yourself or with the help of someone else. The juxtaposition of Darnell’s life with Harriet’s (and the others) put so much into very clear perspective. We are squandering our freedom if we don’t use our voice and stand up for others in the face of racism, colorism, and homophobia, as well as transphobia and misogyny (though those two weren’t a major focus of the book). I finished the book feeling cleansed of so many negative feeling I had about my life and feeling empowered to do whatever I can with what I’ve got (which is a lot!)

This book is a hopeful punch in the gut 😂 In the best way! And I really hope we get the full musical/concert at some point! Those two songs were awesome!

Joyous! Heavy! Celebratory!

Maybe this wasn't the most well-written book, but it makes up for it in HEART!

Toodeloo, off to go listen to the songs again! 💃🪩

I did not expect to devour this book as quickly as I did. This is a new genre. I don't know what to call it so I'm gonna call it "living biography". It's not just the story of someone's (Tubman's) life, but rather the story of a contemporary Black queer artist engaging with her, and with many other ancestors whose names are given back. It reminded me of the Marsha biography, written by a Black trans woman. I could read a lot more books like this. There is something deep and endearing in the conversation between past and present, told with humor and empathy. Occasionally, parts seemed a bit out of place when characters from the 1800s said things like "It's in our DNA", but honestly the book was so likable I let those slide. The most important takeaway: this book needs to become an actual musical. The only problem I had with it was I could see how much the music would add to the whole experience. I think Bob imagined it as a musical from the get go, and a book is a vehicle for that. I hope they get to make it.

I thought I knew Harriet Tubman's story, but this fictional book about Harriet Tubman coming back from the dead to make a hip-hop album showed me just how wrong I was about her story. Final Score: 4.9

Content Disclosure: This book and review touch on slavery and its continued trauma, racism, religious trauma, and queer trauma. I’ll say up front that I’m a straight, white woman and I want to be mindful that the weight that this book carries may land very differently for others.

What This Book Did Well This was such a fresh look at Harriet Tubman and the early abolitionists. What floored me most was the way this book defamiliarizes what slavery actually was. It doesn’t let you coast on the whitewashed, sanitized textbook version. Small choices do enormous work here and it sits with the trauma that came after people were freed, which is something we almost never discuss. That reframing alone justified the whole book for me.

The other thread that I really admired was the discussion around religion being both a weapon and a lifeline - how Christianity was forced onto enslaved people to keep them docile, while so many enslaved people and their descendants find genuine comfort and community in religion today. Simultaneously, our protagonist, Darnell, has religious trauma stemming from religious spaces that rejected him for being queer. I grew up evangelical, but am no longer religious, so I see plenty of the negatives clearly, but I also understand the positives, particularly the sense of peace and community that comes with religious organizations. This book holds both of these truths without flinching, and I’m still chewing on it.

I also loved the humor, which is a small miracle given how heavy the subject matter is. It was just enough - a one-off line here and there that was genuinely hilarious, and then right back into it. The humor was fantastic, while also never overpowering the weight of what was being said.

And the modernization of these historical figures - imagining what they might actually sound like today - struck me as a really smart teaching technique. It makes the history just a little more legible to a modern reader without ever dumbing it down or sanitizing their experiences. In my opinion, Bob’s craft backs everything up. There were so many lines I highlighted in this short book that I will be thinking about for a long time.

Audiobook Experience I set myself up for success by tandem reading this one (listening to the audiobook narrated by Bob the Drag Queen while physically reading a copy) and I’d highly recommend going in that way if you can. There’s something special about hearing this story through the author’s voice and tone. Bob’s personality shines through the book and I loved that intimacy and Bob’s passion. That said, a celebrity author isn’t necessarily a trained narrator, and while Bob did a fantastic job, there are few things I wanted to note. Bob narrates quickly, and with the amount of dialogue this book has, I found it hard to tell the characters apart at point just by ear alone. The narration pacing wasn’t totally consistent either, while the narration always has a pretty quick pace, it was especially noticeable in the opening chapters.

While none of these are deal breakers, since I’m really encouraging readers to go the tandem reading route there are a couple more things I wanted to note: there are so many quotable lines, I think if I had done the audiobook alone, I’d have been pausing constantly to write them all down. Additionally, I did notice a couple of times that there were slips in the narration and a couple of times (specifically with the song lyrics) that short lines were missing. They weren’t critical, but since I was tandem reading I caught them.

Where It May Fall Short Truthfully, I don’t have much in the way of real critique, most of my “issues” are more confessions.

One thing I’ll flag, though I landed on the like side of it: the book balances the historical stories with a fictional story as a throughline, but the pacing isn’t even. At the beginning of the book, you get a lot more of the historical stories and near the end the fictional storyline gets more of the spotlight. I could see people wanting more of one or the other. Additionally, the fictional thread isn’t super complicated, but for me having a clean storyline that carries the themes and overall message was a strength.

A confession: I’m a big fan of Bob! Since I was listening to Bob narrate the book as well, I pictured Bob as the protagonist the whole time - my brain refused to separate them. That’s not on Bob, but if you come in as a fellow fan, fair warning you might do the same.

The only other thing isn’t really a flaw, just something to help set your expectations: the book throws you straight into its alternate universe and asks you to accept the premise without any handholding. I personally loved that, but I could see it tripping up readers who want more set up before the rules of the world click into place.

Final Thoughts, Opinions & Recommendations This one is for readers who will also be pissed that they spent years in their history classes learning the propagandized, whitewashed version of history and for readers who are comfortable with a book going from devastating to hilarious in the same paragraph.

Who it might not be for: as I flagged up top, if you carry trauma around slavery, racism, religious trauma, or queer trauma - especially if you have intersections of those - please go in knowing this book sits in all of that directly.

My thanks to my local public library for having both the audiobook and ebook available with almost no wait! GO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARIES!!!

Additionally, I would like to thank Jennifer & Lucy, the co-founders of Pagebound, for putting this book in the Pride 2026 Readalong! Getting to read this book along with everyone else is such a joy and I’m so grateful for the experience!

TL;DR Would I Recommend it? 110%, just be mindful of the content warnings specifically for slavery, racism, religious trauma, and queer trauma. Would I Reread it? YES! Would I Read More From This Author? YES!

Star Score Breakdown Personal Enjoyment: 5 Overall Execution: 5 Craft & Writing Quality: 4.75 Characters: 5 Plot: 4.75 Final Score: 4.9

the most genius book of all time.

THIS is exactly how i want to learn about important historical figures, to reimagine them and their stories, which worked magnificently for harriet tubman. this is how i want to hear about the queer community’s struggles and the fight to be seen when you aren’t exactly loud and proud enough to show yourself. this is exactly how i want to read about people who grew up surrounded by jesus-lovers and are still doubtful that the jesus who everyone loves loves you specifically. this is exactly how i want to read about inner strength and what defines popular culture. i love the queer community. this was such a touching and altogether celebratory story that makes you feel seen in ways you might’ve needed, like the breath of a hug from someone who loves you more than you love yourself sometimes, a reminder that the space you take in this world matters.

i cannot recommend enough that you NEED to listen to the audio. if print is more your thing, i suggest a tandem read. oral traditions through storytelling and song are how we used to survive, and we should always stay connected this way 💗🏳️‍🌈