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joshloftin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault
boywonder's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, and Violence
willowbiblio's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
"That's what the school did to a boy. It didn't stop when you got out. Bend you all kind of ways until you were unfit for straight life, good and twisted by the time you left."
-----------------
This was a deeply moving book.I actually started crying at Turner's words about living for Elwood in the final pages. I truly did not see that twist coming - and it was heartbreaking. Whitehead did an incredible job of describing the terror of ongoing trauma and the deep impact it has on the rest of your life. When something that irrevocably harmful occurs to you as a child, you are forever changed by it. Whitehead absolutely did this justice. He describes trauma memory in such a precise and accurate way.
I liked that he didn't overly prescribe emotion to the reader- his characters and scenes adequately portrayed that without need to push the reader into it. The boxing fights reminded me of the Two Minutes Hate in 1984, how even if it's inauthentic an outlet is absolutely required, and institutions recognize that.
I felt like Whitehead's open was remarkably strong- we immediately know that boys were harmed. We're also shown how their lives and deaths were devalued- being thrown in a potato sack like garbage to be buried.
There were a lot of literary parallels- his use of the boxing ring followed by a different kind of violence at the iron rings, both violences ultimately being controlled by the white school masters.
That this is a true story is heartbreaking. I think this book will stay with me for a long time and I absolutely understand why it won the Pulitzer.
-----------------
This was a deeply moving book.
I liked that he didn't overly prescribe emotion to the reader- his characters and scenes adequately portrayed that without need to push the reader into it. The boxing fights reminded me of the Two Minutes Hate in 1984, how even if it's inauthentic an outlet is absolutely required, and institutions recognize that.
I felt like Whitehead's open was remarkably strong- we immediately know that boys were harmed. We're also shown how their lives and deaths were devalued- being thrown in a potato sack like garbage to be buried.
There were a lot of literary parallels- his use of the boxing ring followed by a different kind of violence at the iron rings, both violences ultimately being controlled by the white school masters.
That this is a true story is heartbreaking. I think this book will stay with me for a long time and I absolutely understand why it won the Pulitzer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
tigerkind's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Confinement, Child death, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, Bullying, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Rape, Medical content, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Slavery, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, War, and Excrement
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
This was a devastating read that evoked a lot of anger & heartbreak for me. Something our buddy read discussions brought up was that even though this was set in Jim Crow-era Florida, it can still sadly probably represent the reality for many of today. This is based on a real "reform school" that operated for 111 years!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, and Racial slurs
Minor: Sexual harassment
writingcaia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
4.75
A powerful testament to the nature of evil, racism and ignorance.
Children discarded like rotten fruit, beaten, raped, murdered for sport and no one cared. No graves, no memorials. Sad but true. The reality that humans are capable of such evil, but also, of such courage and resilience.
The writing is a bit dense and hard to get into, especially with this theme of abuse, racism, and murder. However, as soon as the decent, educated, polite, super smart, compassionate and revolutionary Elwood accidentally lands in the reformatory school things start getting heavier and harder to let go off.
What happened in the fictional The Nickel school was inspired by a true story, and we all know so many. I know I do. The catholics were responsible for so many similar abusive and murderous orphanages and schools of the type, where the most vulnerable were always the most hurt.
Racism obviously plays a huge part in the story with Elwood being so inspired by MLK and those being the times of JFK and the civil rights movement.
It’s also a story of friendship and standing up for the other.
The finale was especially heart wrenching, with a twist I saw coming, and still made me cry.
Love will always conquer even death.
Children discarded like rotten fruit, beaten, raped, murdered for sport and no one cared. No graves, no memorials. Sad but true. The reality that humans are capable of such evil, but also, of such courage and resilience.
The writing is a bit dense and hard to get into, especially with this theme of abuse, racism, and murder. However, as soon as the decent, educated, polite, super smart, compassionate and revolutionary Elwood accidentally lands in the reformatory school things start getting heavier and harder to let go off.
What happened in the fictional The Nickel school was inspired by a true story, and we all know so many. I know I do. The catholics were responsible for so many similar abusive and murderous orphanages and schools of the type, where the most vulnerable were always the most hurt.
Racism obviously plays a huge part in the story with Elwood being so inspired by MLK and those being the times of JFK and the civil rights movement.
It’s also a story of friendship and standing up for the other.
The finale was especially heart wrenching, with a twist I saw coming, and still made me cry.
Love will always conquer even death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, and Child abuse
Moderate: Murder and Child death
Minor: Rape
reading_robyn's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Racial slurs, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Rape
ablotial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was really well done, which maybe should surprise no one given that it won the Pulitzer Prize, but often I do not end up loving the prize winners. In this case, though, I think it is warranted. Initially, the writing felt a bit stiff for me given the setting and characters of the book, but over time I didn't notice that anymore and fell into the story.
For those of you who don't know, this is a work of fiction but it is based on a real "school" for juvenile delinquents that existed called the Dozier Boys School. I guess it was in the news a few years ago but it was a first-heard-about for me, although sadly I was unsurprised by the conditions and injustices faced by Elwood and his fellow students. It's so sad how someone like Elwood, with so much promise and a future that indicated he was going to get OUT of there, ended up as a result of racial profiling (he committed no crime!) and the ineptitude of anyone caring about the boys at the school. Of course, Elwood's exact situation was fictional -- who knows if there really was such a promising boy who ended up there on such crap charges? -- but sadly it is fully believable that it absolutely could have happened.
When the book flipped back to section 3, I didn't love it. After the intro section in the present day, I thought we would only return to find him going to visit and call it good. But then it was going on, with his relationship and his job and the guy he ran into on the street and I just ... it was hard for me to find it in me to care about these kind of crappy adults, aside from feeling bad that they ended up this way through no real fault of their own. I wanted to get back and hear about the kids, come to a resolution! But of course, I kept reading, and it all became clear. I'm not sure all that's really possible this day and age but I like the idea of it. And maybe it is, given the circumstances and timing of when it all went down.
Overall, good book, although not five stars for me. I enjoyed it and was invested in Elwood and Turner and their situation. I went back and forth on the formality of the writing style given the setting. And I kind of felt like he tried to cram *too* much in... I'm sure all these things happened in one way or another, but probably not all to the same person. Or maybe they did. But I suppose it makes for a better novel to be able to throw it all in. It did inspire me to add We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys to my TBR.
For those of you who don't know, this is a work of fiction but it is based on a real "school" for juvenile delinquents that existed called the Dozier Boys School. I guess it was in the news a few years ago but it was a first-heard-about for me, although sadly I was unsurprised by the conditions and injustices faced by Elwood and his fellow students. It's so sad how someone like Elwood, with so much promise and a future that indicated he was going to get OUT of there, ended up as a result of racial profiling (he committed no crime!) and the ineptitude of anyone caring about the boys at the school. Of course, Elwood's exact situation was fictional -- who knows if there really was such a promising boy who ended up there on such crap charges? -- but sadly it is fully believable that it absolutely could have happened.
When the book flipped back to section 3, I didn't love it. After the intro section in the present day, I thought we would only return to find him going to visit and call it good. But then it was going on, with his relationship and his job and the guy he ran into on the street and I just ... it was hard for me to find it in me to care about these kind of crappy adults, aside from feeling bad that they ended up this way through no real fault of their own. I wanted to get back and hear about the kids, come to a resolution! But of course, I kept reading, and it all became clear. I'm not sure all that's really possible this day and age but I like the idea of it. And maybe it is, given the circumstances and timing of when it all went down.
Overall, good book, although not five stars for me. I enjoyed it and was invested in Elwood and Turner and their situation. I went back and forth on the formality of the writing style given the setting. And I kind of felt like he tried to cram *too* much in... I'm sure all these things happened in one way or another, but probably not all to the same person. Or maybe they did. But I suppose it makes for a better novel to be able to throw it all in. It did inspire me to add We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys to my TBR.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Child abuse
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence
nt_johanna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Murder, Hate crime, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Pedophilia
Minor: Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
scenic92's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence