Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Reformatory

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

111 reviews

albernikolauras's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Reformatory follows Robert Stevens, who was sentenced to 6 months at the Reformatory for defending his sister Gloria from the advances of a rich white man's son. It's set at an imaginary town where the supernatural is the norm, and The Reformatory in town is a haunted place.

This was just an excellent story, intertwining the real life horrors of schools like this one that were scattered all over the US and the supernatural haunts that might grace a place that holds so much trauma. Due builds the atmosphere and carries such tension through the entire book. My only minor complaint was that it felt a bit long, but it didn't drag.

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akrys40's review

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dark emotional sad slow-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

3.0

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melchncookies's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

This book is devastating and hopeful. It’s so well written. The narrator was amazing.

Yes, this novel explores the horrors of the schools for boys, especially in the Deep South, but it also explores the lengths that Black families had to go to remain intact. While fiction, the author notes that Robbie is based on a relative that died at a boy’s school and other aspects of this book were based on truth.

I couldn’t put this down. I’ll be thinking about it for years I think.

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rorikae's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Tananarive Due continues to be one of the best horror writers and that continues in her standout novel, 'The Reformatory.'
When he kicks the son of a prominent landowner while defending his sister, Robert Stevens Jr. is sentenced to six months at the local reformatory school for boys. When he arrives at the school, he finds it is a place of terror where the head of the school rules over the boys with fear and intimidation. Robbie finds two friends, Redbone and Blue, who help him better understand the school and the truth of his situation. While his sister Gloria tries to get him freed from the school, Robbie searches for a way to escape while dealing with the terrors that haunt the grounds.
Due does an exceptional job of creating slowly creeping horror that is centered on the characters and their personal situations. She instantly makes you care for Robbie and his family and then puts him in a harrowing situation that slowly ramps up and grows more distressing. Based loosely on a relative who attended a reformatory school, Due mixes the real history of the horrors committed at these institutions with Robbie’s fictionalized story. What results is a deeply moving story that demonstrates the cruelty and racism that permeated these types of institutions. Due also does a great job of only hinting at some of the worst things that happen at the institution while still bringing the hairs up on the back of your neck. A horrifying story with a deeply heartfelt core, please read the Reformatory.

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