Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

117 reviews

swiftpool's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

I’ve never cried - no, weeped - as much reading as I did with this book. I cried so hard I thought I might puke, or never stop crying. The plot might have ghosts, but it’s not them that did the real haunting. The characters felt like something from a real book. I can’t explain how moving this book is, but I can say it’s very difficult from most historical fiction I’ve read. It has a point, not just a plot. It’s not just trauma written for the sake of it. It was written with a purpose, based on real people and places that also affected the author  and her family. I recommend reading the acknowledgments to learn more about the authors ties to the dozier school and more nonfiction information on it. It’s not an easy read but I think it’s an important read, especially for those who find nonfiction harder to read but want an insight into Americas real history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Slavery, Grief, Blood, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Dementia

hellishpelican's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad tense fast-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

Utterly devastating but beautiful novel shining light on racism in the South in the 1950's. I loved this. The expertly intertwined ghost story was a lovely bonus and added a great dimension to the story without making it unserious. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

Minor: Gore

hillysreads's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

vegan5533's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

An incredible addition to any historical fiction collection.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Torture, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Child death, and Gaslighting

ellislawreads's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Gore, Racism, Child death, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Racial slurs

kaitlynbarrett's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual assault

amberpants's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

There came a point, about a quarter of the way into this book, that I put it down and wasn't sure if I would be able to pick it back up. The moment in the story was overwhelming for me and, though I felt like I owed it to the characters to go on the journey with them, I wasn't sure that my heart could take it. The story is engaging, believable - it is based on things that have happened - and immersive, the last not exactly a positive when dealing with such tragic subject matter, though perhaps necessary. In the end, I did finish the book, completed the journey, and am glad that I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Racism, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Rape, Child death, Abandonment, and Pedophilia

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Animal death, and Sexual violence

bookended's review

dark emotional

4.5

4.5/5
Thank you to Saga Press, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free e-copy of this book!

Please be warned the triggers in this read include: racial slurs, abuse, extreme violence , racism.. 

The storytelling in this read was beyond words and left me speechless from start to end. The Reformatory takes place in 1950's Gracetown, Florida, following both Gloria and Robert (Robbie) Stephens, when Robert found himself being sent to a Boy's School (which is led by THE MOST disgusting man) after an incident with his neighbor. 

This was a horrific, heart-dropping, stomach-turning read, that was written so well. And knowing that this read was inspired by true events from Tananarive Due's family history made it that much more memorable.  Historical Fiction at its finest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

shamelessbibliophile41's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Child death, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia

mariakureads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

This is a book that is going to stay with me long after today.

Due wrote an amazingly haunting, gripping and atmospheric tale full of history, and rich with characters to tell this tale of a young black boy in the 1950's, Jim Crow era, who in protecting his sister from a white boy's unwanted advances, is sent to "the Reformatory", a "school" for boys that runs more like a sweatshop/prison in which everyone is aware of but truly have no idea of the real going ons within.

I am speechless with how much I want to talk about this but also aware I don't have all the words I need to use to express how amazing this book really is. At moments, I was left breathless, hair raised and goosebumps all over from the tension and fear radiating from the pages and in some moments just held in suspense at what I was hearing as Joniece Abbott-Pratt narrated this book. 

Her narration had me enthralled and pulled me in further as she read in different tones and voices for every character making it easy for me to keep pace with who was who but also her use of tone helped drive key moments in the story as her voices lowers, whispers, breaks and holds the tension in the heavier scenes while bringing in warmth and love for others.

This may be the first time I'm introduced to either , but this won't be my last hopefully. Highly recommend this just be aware that this has some triggering moments so  check the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Bullying