Scan barcode
A review by archaicrobin
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
The Reformatory is one of the best books I’ve read this year and one of Due’s best, which is hard tos ay because all of her books are phenomenal.
Steeped in history and her own personal family trauma is a tale of a young boy in the south sent to a horrific “school” for boys and his journey to find freedom with help from the spirits who refuse to leave without justice.
This story is heart wrenching and horrifying, made all the more painful because it’s based on a real place where real boys were tortured, raped, abused and murdered. I highly recommend looking at triggers before starting this one just to be safe, because it’s brutal. While spirits and the supernatural are paramount to this story, the true terror is in the lack of humanity and completely disgusting and historically true displays of racism.
This story was phenomenal but so hard to get through, there were several times I had to put this down and just decompress because it weighed so heavy on my heart. Books like this are some of the most importantly literature in my eyes, especially at a time right now where racism and bigotry are being paraded around as political candidates.
10/10 everyone should read if you can handle it. I will be thinking about Robert, his family, the boys left behind, and the message of this novel for a very long time.
Steeped in history and her own personal family trauma is a tale of a young boy in the south sent to a horrific “school” for boys and his journey to find freedom with help from the spirits who refuse to leave without justice.
This story is heart wrenching and horrifying, made all the more painful because it’s based on a real place where real boys were tortured, raped, abused and murdered. I highly recommend looking at triggers before starting this one just to be safe, because it’s brutal. While spirits and the supernatural are paramount to this story, the true terror is in the lack of humanity and completely disgusting and historically true displays of racism.
This story was phenomenal but so hard to get through, there were several times I had to put this down and just decompress because it weighed so heavy on my heart. Books like this are some of the most importantly literature in my eyes, especially at a time right now where racism and bigotry are being paraded around as political candidates.
10/10 everyone should read if you can handle it. I will be thinking about Robert, his family, the boys left behind, and the message of this novel for a very long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism