For the first good chunk of this book, I asked myself why I was reading it. It was pure historical fiction about the time period when white Americans enslaved African Americans, and I've read many, many books about the casual cruelty of this era. Why was I putting myself through it again? I was so glad I hung in there. Whitehead's combination of historical fiction and fantasy—with some unexpected choices, such as giving us backstory AFTER we'd already formed an opinion on the character—was brilliant. It was a great combination—experimental but thoroughly grounded in reality; with a message but sneaky, tucked into unexpected places, such as the novel's structure. I much enjoyed it.