Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

229 reviews

kurumipanda's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

twobooksonenerd's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

As a mother of a teenage boy, this wasn’t an easy read. I feel like all parents should read this. While based almost 100 years ago, I don’t see very much different in how minorities/poc are treated. Painfully scary without all the Hollywood glitter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and Death of parent

leahcatching's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

theybie_spice's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The subject matter is tragic and awful. But the book is incredibly well written and will stick with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

nikki_saulnier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

alyssatuininga's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 This book is a rough read- racism, child sexual abuse, torture death, and extreme graphic descriptions of child physical abuse. I struggled getting through this book because every time I picked it up this dread washed over me and I had a pit in my stomach. It is eloquently written- raw and heartbreaking. The characters feel realistic, deep, and honest. I learned a great deal about justice and the NAACP in Florida in the 1950s.  In the long run, I am glad that I read it but it was a rough ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

abookishtype's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Tananarive Due’s novel, The Reformatory, is a devastating read. Every page made my anxiety spike and hackles rise and, yet, I know that what I felt reading Due’s novel was a mere shadow of what I might have been like to be Black and living in Florida in 1950. Although this book contains supernatural elements, real history has a starring role in the narrative. Not only does Due have an ancestor who was incarcerated and died at the Florida School for Boys, she also refers to the Rosewood Massacre, the lynching of Claude Neal, the prosecution of Ruby McCollum, and the murder of Harry T. Moore and his wife. (Moore and McCollum have brief cameos.) The supernatural elements provide no escape from the realization that the things that happen to the protagonists, Gloria and Robert Stephens, actually happened to real people...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

randeerebecca's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

jaedia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

ghostly_gabby's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Police brutality