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A review by pnwbibliophile
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
Overall, a great portrayal of the Jim Crow South via horror. We’re immersed in the swamps of the Florida panhandle in 1950, where Gloria and her twelve year-old little brother, Robbie, find themselves unjustly targeted by the local White people who control everything in their small town. Prior to the book’s opening, their father is falsely accused of raping a White woman to get back at him for being a union organizer, forcing him to flee to Chicago. Because the White mob is still hungry for blood, Robbie gets unjustly put into the Reformatory, a school for “wayward” juveniles, after defending his sister from the unwelcomed advances of a White peer, whose father owns much of the town. At the Reformatory, the ghosts of the school’s corrupt and abusive past/present become literal in the form of haints. These haints are the ghosts of past students and even workers who were killed at the school. Robbie is one of the few who can see them and this sets him on a path of uncovering the school’s dark secrets and trying to bring it all crashing down.
Tananarive Due pens an original concept, well fleshed-out characters, and immersive dialogue. The author blurb at the end explaining why she wrote it made me appreciate her even more as an author. You feel the father’s absence the entire time, but also feel his presence in the moral compass and intelligence of his two kids. This flips the black absent father trope on its head and I loved that. It shows how good of a father he is to have taught them well enough for his lessons to carry on in his stead. Due also captured the injustice of the system so well and forces you to confront it. It also felt historically grounded, with the NAACP and anti-Communist sentiment making appearances. The subject matter is difficult, with so much rampant racism and violence, but it is important for us to grapple with our unjust system and its historical roots.
Tananarive Due pens an original concept, well fleshed-out characters, and immersive dialogue. The author blurb at the end explaining why she wrote it made me appreciate her even more as an author. You feel the father’s absence the entire time, but also feel his presence in the moral compass and intelligence of his two kids. This flips the black absent father trope on its head and I loved that. It shows how good of a father he is to have taught them well enough for his lessons to carry on in his stead. Due also captured the injustice of the system so well and forces you to confront it. It also felt historically grounded, with the NAACP and anti-Communist sentiment making appearances. The subject matter is difficult, with so much rampant racism and violence, but it is important for us to grapple with our unjust system and its historical roots.