891 reviews for:

Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum

Antonia Hylton

4.35 AVERAGE

figgyreads's review against another edition

5.0

informative sad medium-paced

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I have read a lot of books about the Black experience in America, so none of the information provided in this book about the treatment of mentally ill Black folks were treated in our country’s history. Still, I am horrified over these stories. Antonia Hylton has devoted her life’s work to researching Crownsville and its history, through the lens of a person of color and one who has experience mental illness in her own family. A must-read for people who wish to learn from history and advocate for better for us all.

lisav317's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

rmarieb's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

markgart's review against another edition

3.75

emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

salexjt81's review

5.0

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

cpettitmillet's review

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

adriennemcc's review

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

simplyme's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

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I really loved this book. You can tell the author has a lot of passion for this topic. It certainly isn't a pick me up type of book but the history of this place is fascinating and often sad. I really enjoyed hearing stories from people who were there and I think the author did an excellent job collecting and organizing sources and walking us through the history. I think my only critique of this book is that in parts of the book I lost track of where in time we were. I think this was only an issue because I listened to the audiobook so I couldn't quickly and easily flip back to find what year we were in. 

wyldereads's review

4.75

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Madness is such an informative read, Hylton did an amazing job summarizing over 100 years of data and events into this book. Naturally, any book that leaves me with a new understanding of the world is slated for a 5. I reduced to a 4.75 because, at times, I felt like the content of a chapter was scattered. There is so much content to deliver it feels like Hylton went from one subject to a next without clear transitions.

anneking990's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced