A review by trinityamyah
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book easily remains in my top 3 of the year, no matter what I read next. Although the story gets really dark and can be triggering, there’s such warmth in Due’s storytelling and the characters we meet; she managed to strike a pretty incredible balance between warm and chilling. I was genuinely creeped out at times. The plot is excellent, and the character development is outstanding.

I cried, smiled, and laughed so much while reading this book. When I finished it, I felt so grateful that this author completed this project and shared it with us. You can tell so much work and thought went into this book (the author worked on it for 10 years), so much reverie for anyone who came before whose stories resonated with these characters’. I personally was really inspired by it.

I read The Between by Due prior to reading this, and although it was slow for most of the book, I really appreciated her writing and world crafting by the end of it. So I read this. And thank goodness I did. This book put Due on my Favorite Author list, and I already have two more of her works in my cart ready for checkout! I highly recommend. Give it a read and see what you think!
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