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4.56 AVERAGE
4.56 AVERAGE
Good book, but pretty tough to get through in some parts. Not for the faint of heart...
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
A really tough read and yet so worth it. Multiple sections that just had me ugly crying. I ripped through the final 80 pages with my heart pounding. It’s Due’s masterpiece.
WOWWWW. This was such a WILD ride man… while I am happy, that Robbie is safe with his sister and dad.. BUT I NEED THAT MAN EXPOSED OKAY?! The pictures need to be out everywhere of what he was doing!! I feel like I have so many questions that aren’t answered like what happened with the other boys that attempted to escape.. did they get away??? BOY IM SO MADDDDD. Blue reallllyyyy pissed me off the entire book!!!! like this was yo plan and you stay GHOST!!! RIP to my boy Redbone because I just couldn’t believe he diedddd
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was one of the most powerful books I've read in my life.
The world building and the descriptions of being in the Jim Crow south in the 1950's. The injustice, the anger and fear are all so unapologetically and hauntingly displayed.
Tananarive Due is an ARTIST. We are taken on a journey with world building that transports us to 1950's Florida as sure as the sand under our feet and the humidity surrounding you like heavy, all-enveloping smoke.
The story follows Robert Stephen's Jr and his sister, Gloria. The siblings are living in the town of Gracetown, Florida under the guardianship of Miz Lottie after the passing of their Mother and having their father run out of town due to his political leaning/involvements and being wrongly accused of rape.
Gracetown is segregated and there isn't much keeping the towns eyes from the Stephen siblings, who seem waiting with held breath for an opportunity to use the children to bring their father back in the Gracetown jurisdiction to face "justice". This is confirmed after Robbie dares to kick the son of Gracetown's largest land owner, after he made unwanted advances on Gloria.
Gracetown's idea of retribution is to send Robbie to a reformatory/correctional school for boys for six months. However, after Robbie arrives, he begins to understand that the horrors happening in the school run deeper and are more terrifying than his own imagination could have seen.
Robbie begins to see "Haints", the souls of the boys who died in the reformatory, and can't help but feel connections to the spiritual pain and events that are tied to the trapped souls in the school. Robbie's connection is noticed by the Warden, and he is pushed into "working" for the warden to help "fix" the haint situation at the school.
Meanwhile, Gloria is running around exploring every legal option possible to get her brother out of the reformatory while dodging the prying eyes of the town who are hoping the trouble Robbie is in will bring their father back.
This book is so painful. You would think the spiritual/haunting aspect of this book would be the creepiest aspect of it. But I soon realized it's the racism and injustice that primarily got under my skin.
The parts of the story that describe how Gloria has to go through separate doors, the way she and Miz Lottie are stopped/harassed by the police. How the police search her neighborhood and her employers for her just based on her familial connection was displayed so well, it was painful to read.
The pacing flowed beautifully between Robbie's experiences at the reformatory and Gloria's hustling determination. There's talk of The NAACP, radio shows, musicians and other notable individuals from that time which adds much to the historical atmosphere of the story. I was completely and utterly immersed.
The ending MORE than made up for the journey it took to get there.
5/5
The world building and the descriptions of being in the Jim Crow south in the 1950's. The injustice, the anger and fear are all so unapologetically and hauntingly displayed.
Tananarive Due is an ARTIST. We are taken on a journey with world building that transports us to 1950's Florida as sure as the sand under our feet and the humidity surrounding you like heavy, all-enveloping smoke.
The story follows Robert Stephen's Jr and his sister, Gloria. The siblings are living in the town of Gracetown, Florida under the guardianship of Miz Lottie after the passing of their Mother and having their father run out of town due to his political leaning/involvements and being wrongly accused of rape.
Gracetown is segregated and there isn't much keeping the towns eyes from the Stephen siblings, who seem waiting with held breath for an opportunity to use the children to bring their father back in the Gracetown jurisdiction to face "justice". This is confirmed after Robbie dares to kick the son of Gracetown's largest land owner, after he made unwanted advances on Gloria.
Gracetown's idea of retribution is to send Robbie to a reformatory/correctional school for boys for six months. However, after Robbie arrives, he begins to understand that the horrors happening in the school run deeper and are more terrifying than his own imagination could have seen.
Robbie begins to see "Haints", the souls of the boys who died in the reformatory, and can't help but feel connections to the spiritual pain and events that are tied to the trapped souls in the school. Robbie's connection is noticed by the Warden, and he is pushed into "working" for the warden to help "fix" the haint situation at the school.
Meanwhile, Gloria is running around exploring every legal option possible to get her brother out of the reformatory while dodging the prying eyes of the town who are hoping the trouble Robbie is in will bring their father back.
This book is so painful. You would think the spiritual/haunting aspect of this book would be the creepiest aspect of it. But I soon realized it's the racism and injustice that primarily got under my skin.
The parts of the story that describe how Gloria has to go through separate doors, the way she and Miz Lottie are stopped/harassed by the police. How the police search her neighborhood and her employers for her just based on her familial connection was displayed so well, it was painful to read.
The pacing flowed beautifully between Robbie's experiences at the reformatory and Gloria's hustling determination. There's talk of The NAACP, radio shows, musicians and other notable individuals from that time which adds much to the historical atmosphere of the story. I was completely and utterly immersed.
The ending MORE than made up for the journey it took to get there.
5/5
mysterious
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:
Complicated
fast-paced