The Water Dancer

4/5 stars. Really amazing, well written novel. I did not expect to love it so much. The range of characters and depth of character for each character was a unique coming together of unity. Everything seemed to be incredible tense and all events left you at the edge of your seat. So much was at stake for the characters and their lives that it made their experiences incredibly heartbreaking. Each substory was endearing and filled with so much hope. The difference between this novel and other Underground Railroad historical fiction was the main character and his internal processing. Many of those historical fiction novels were written from the perspective of a woman. Seeing these events from a man's perspective and watching the wheel turn to understand his relationship to the hardships of the women in the story was hard, but really essential. Also, the culture and history turned semi fantasy was fantasic, like there was an extra layer to the events that was alreading happening and that so many who know of the Underground Railroad are familiar with. I especially loved the humanizing of Harriet Tubman and how the author dove into her background a little. I feel like it really encaptured a spirit. I would read this book again and again because I feel like there is so much to unpack in this novel, I have surely missed something.