Harriet Tubman has come to our time, together with some of the people she freed from slavery. Their plan: record a hip hop album. For this, they need the help of Darnell, a formerly successful music producer and first person narrator of the book. During their time together, the visitors from the past get an insight into our modern world, while the people of our time get first hand accounts of the harsh life as a slave, as well as the chance to experience their memorable personalities.

The premise of this book sounds so wild and strange, and I have to say that it took me some time to get into it - but then I really had fun listening to it. I often don't like books that try to teach me, especially historical facts. But in this case, it didn't bother me and there were really interesting facts about the Underground Railroad. I suspect this was due to the way it was presented (as conversations with "real" people from back then), as well as the topic itself. I also really liked hearing about Darnell's backstory. Also, some of the scenes were funny (in a way I like, which doesn't happen too often).

I listened to the audiobook, which is read by the author. Sometimes it was a bit hard to understand for me, but I still really liked his narration, he sounds so nice and likeable (didn't know him before).

I would recommend this to anyone looking for an unconventional kind of historical novel.

We follow a triple (?) timeline: In the 80s Susan and Al get to know each other, fall in love and Susan starts her acting career. In the 90s we learn about the events before and after Susan's tragic passing. In the 2000s we read about Susan's kids growing up.

This wasn't as bad as I had expected after seeing the rating and reading some reviews, but I'm also not a big fan. I like the general idea of the book, but there are just some things I can't ignore. Of course, I am absolutely creeped out by Orson's behavior when he meets Viola for the first time. It's just very unpleasant to read about pedophiliac behavior without any critical discussion of the topic. Overall, I think most characters were very unlikable as well as just not too interesting, which made it hard for me to be too invested in the story. At times the plot really dragged and I don't know if I would have finished if I hadn't been listening to the audiobook. And then there's the writing style... It is supposed to be very literary and sophisticated and ends up being just too much. Also, there were too frequent changes in perspective for me, which sometimes made it hard to stay with the story. Now I have to say that it wasn't as bad as all of this may sound. The general idea of the story definitely has potential in my opinion. There were also some very gripping parts; especially Susan's death scene was very emotional and touched me deeply.

All in all, it was a debut novel which had flaws, as well as some potential. I would most likely consider reading another of the author's books.