This definitely lived up to the hype. Harrowing, tragic, and beautiful. I loved the structure of the book, with the story divided up into sections by destination and split up by interludes about secondary characters. Cora is obviously the heart of the story, but these interludes show some of the ways slavery affects all members of society, not just the slaves and masters. As for the main storyline, breaking up the book by destination really made this feel like a journey, not just a story being told.