Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

70 reviews

jill_holly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

Wow, what an incredible book. I didn't have many expectations going in, but if I had, they were exceeded. I read the last 25% in one sitting, leaning forward in my chair with my heart pounding. This book was deeply emotional, intense, and thought-provoking. I won't be forgetting it anytime soon. Not just reflective of schools like this that existed in the American south; it had reverberations of Canadian residential schools too. Chilling, mesmerizing and important. One of my favourite books of the year! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Sexual harassment

booksteader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child death, Murder, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Torture, Slavery, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

This is my first Due book, and I don't think I could have chosen better. I annotated the heck out of this book; the writing was so good that there were so many sentences, paragraphs - whole pages, even - that I never want to forget. I appreciate the sensitivity with which the author handed a real and truly harrowing experience. She described the horrors in a way that was complete, but not exploitative or gratuitous. I think some of her other books are more straightforward horror (this was plenty scary, don't get me wrong) and I am a chicken, but I plan to read her entire oeuvre. I know I'll find works that will entertain and transform me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Cancer, and Torture

Minor: Dysphoria, Grief, Misogyny, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Rape, Vomit, and Gore

bkwrm1317's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

I’ve had Due on my TBR for a long time and this novel is evidently evidence as to why. 

Based on a real place, where real young men lost their lives, The Reformatory follows young Robert Stevens, Jr, his sister Gloria, and others who love them in the Jim Crow south after the death of their mother (lost to cancer), and their father’s need to leave after his attempt to unionize workers strikes fear into the pocketbooks of white folks in their community. 

Young Robert defends his sister from the untoward advances of a young white man from a former plantation owning family with a swift kick to the knee, but McCormack senior sees the exchange and convinces a judge to send young Robert to the Reformatory, a place reeking of violence and bloodshed, the mysterious deaths of young men behind its barbed wire fences, and more. 

What unveils is a story of friendship created under duress, the ghosts haunting the Reformatory impatiently waiting to exact their revenge on the man representing the system of inequity that led to their untimely deaths, and the horrors hiding under the surface in the Funhouse, the shed, and elsewhere at the Reformatory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Racial slurs, and Gore

Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Cancer, Slavery, and Sexual violence

gabe_willem's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child death, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Death of parent

outofthepinksky's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Cursing, Death of parent, Misogyny, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Pedophilia, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Cancer, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

qqjj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Body horror, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Stalking, Rape, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Sexual assault, Classism, Gore, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Gun violence, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture

hhelphinstine2006's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Have you ever wanted to finish a book but not want to finish a book? That is how I felt about this book. I was lucky enough to win an arc copy of this book, and it was one of the easiest 5 stars I've ever given. This book does deal with heavy subject matters, so please check trigger warnings before reading. This should honestly be turned into a movie or mini series because that is how it played out in my head as I was reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Racism, and Gun violence

swiftpool's review against another edition

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

jkar7's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it's not really my style. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Hate crime, Slavery, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Death of parent