Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

204 reviews

lightseeker's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

tyreadsbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

4.0

✦The Reformatory by Tananarive Due✦ 

★★★★ 4/5 stars

“𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳? 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴.”

✦ 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊s

12-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to 6 months at the Gracetown School for Boys for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town - in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s experience of the terrors of the Jim Crow South in 1950 & the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. What follows is a terrifying journey, full of haints that haunt the school buildings, & real-life horrors that are far worse than the ghostly memories of the dead.

Read if you like :

•historical fiction

•strong sibling connection 

•ghost stories

•multiple POVs

•emotional reads / survival stories 

✦ 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔

This is one I probably never would’ve picked up if it wasn’t a bookclub read!

I don’t think I’d call this horror in the spooky sense, but the hell these boys went through was horrific in every way. A compelling, ghostly story where the real monsters are the living, breathing human beings.

Despite all that, the sibling bond between Robbie & Gloria, & the resilience of the characters gives you a sense of hope.

At almost 600 pages, I was intimidated by this whopper of a book. Honestly this was my only complaint - I think it could’ve easily been edited by 150 pages without taking anything important away from the story. The narrator absolutely made this book for me. Her storytelling helped me push through.

While it was a work of fiction, it was based on the very real Dozier School for Boys in Florida, which wasn’t permanently closed until June 2011. The authors note is definitely worth the read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Death

ashtheaudiomancer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This is my first Tananarive Due book, and everything I've heard about her writing has, if anything, been underplayed.  This is about a "reform school" that is a thinly veiled death camp where boys are sent for minor and/or imagined infractions, and many never get out. It's also haunted, and young Robbie's ability to communicate with ghosts might be his only chance of escaping. Not for the faint of heart, but essential reading for understanding one of the most unforgivable avenues of racism.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Child death, and Racism

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

Minor: Terminal illness

Most of the content warnings you can infer from the description, but just be aware they are very much part of the story and you will not be able to skim over them.

amberjackonski's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Death, Pedophilia, Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Racism, and Gun violence

author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense fast-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

 

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is set in 1950, Jim Crow Florida. Twelve-year-old Robert Stephens, Jr. defends his older sister Gloria from the unwanted advance of white Lyle McCormack. For kicking Lyle, he is sentenced to Gracetown School for Boys—a brutal place run by the psychopath Fenton Haddock. The brutality of the Jim Crow South is balanced by the nice people that Robert meets and the haints (ghosts) that befriend him. A novel about the United States in the 1950s, and well worth reading. 

 

For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-reformatory-by-tananarive-due.html 

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.” 

Check out https://amzn.to/3vfHVqc to see my books. 

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Bullying, Child death, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Child abuse

Magic realism

box_wine_hero's review against another edition

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

Listened to the audio book and it was amazing. The ghost story combined with the real horrors of the Jim Crow South is so harrowing it was hard to stop listening.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Murder, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Cancer, Bullying, and Death of parent

hausedgerton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

Found this book to be completely different than what I thought I was getting into—and I am so glad it was. The characters, story, and the accurate depiction of Jim Crow South amazing. Was a book I could not put down and would recommend to everyone. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, and Racism

delilahblues's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This book is a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award this year and I definitely see why. This is not my first experience with Due, so it wasn’t surprising for this book to be so good. I love the writing style as well as the story itself.
The story is about a young man who is sent to a boys school for a minor crime. Once there, he begins to see ghosts and finds out about the dark history of the school. It is a duel perspective book with most of the story told between the young boy and his older sister who is willing to do whatever it takes to rescue her brother. 
I’m not typically a fan of multiple perspectives in books bc they can often be disjointed, but Due’s writing style makes it easier to follow. 
All in all, I cannot recommend this book (or really *any* of her books) enough. This book is hyped for a reason. Be sure to check trigger warnings before diving in though! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Torture, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Violence, Confinement, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Racism

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

Damn

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Murder, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Rape

brittonmc1221's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Torture, Murder, Death, Child abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse