Review by sarrie - The Reformatory

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sarrie 's review for:

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Yes

TL;DR: If you want to make yourself terrified read this! I was affected for days.
Source: NetGalley, thank so much to Saga Press!

Plot: Ultimately this one is just about survival. Gloria is attempting to help her brother, and fighting against racism while her brother is just trying to survive the Reformatory and it’s ghosts.
Characters: I both loved and hated these characters in equal measure.
Setting: There isn’t a much scarier place then Jim Crow Florida. But the Reformatory itself as a place was horrifying.
Horror: This one had the most incredible social horror along with a deeply scary paranormal/ghost horror.

Thoughts:

This one is so unsettling and horrifying that I had to look up spoilers. I couldn’t keep going in it because I was so worried. The Reformatory is about Gloria and Robbie. Robbie defends Gloria from a white boy who is being pushy by kicking him in the shin. Of course an adult sees this and Robbie is sent to the Reformatory, a ‘school’ for troubled boys. Gloria fights tooth and nail to try and save him, as he’s only 12 and the kick was nothing more than a bonk on the leg.

This is one of those unique stories where the real life historical setting, with the Jim Crow South and racism is as and often more scary than the actual paranormal things happening. Gloria faces most the racism (not all) while trying to help Robbie. She’s nearly assaulted, she is in fear of her life constantly. There was a scene of her riding in a car with Lottie that is seared into my memory. Nothing happened, but the threat of the cop in the car behind her? It was a lot. Meanwhile Robbie is dealing with the darkness at the Reformatory in the form of haints, abusive people in power, and even the other kids.

If you’re not at all prepared to deal with all that - skip this one for now. I do recommend giving it a read just to see the real horrors of the time and age and also because Tananarive Due is an amazing writer. It is very heavy and hits hard with the horror, something that I think everyone needs to know going in. I doubt I’ll read a scarier book this year.

Content Warnings