The Reformatory

Just absolutely raced through Tananarive Due's "The Reformatory".F***ing hell.The hype was real on this one.What sets this book apart is Due's unflinching portrayal of the racism, violence, and abuse of this era.What little Robert Stephens Jr. endures is deeply disturbing, yet Due never shies away from the harsh truths. Amidst the darkness, though, are glimmers of Stephen King-esque hope, in the resilience and humanity of the characters.The supernatural elements add an extra layer of terror. But the true villains here are not the dead - they are the very real, monstrous people who uphold a culture of cruelty.The Reformatory is an exhausting read, but an important one that will haunt me. Probably the best thing I’ve read so far this year.

This took me a while to finish as it's nearly 600 pages but it's worth the time it takes.I liked the story, told from 2 character view points. It was uncomfortable to read at times. The last 60 pages had me on the edge of my seat, so intense.It's well written, although very "wordy". The history behind this book is tragic and gut wrenching.But a beautiful tale about family, friendship, injustice and hardship.This book will stay with me for a long time.

A gut wrenching and uncomfortable read. Its not often that a book this stunning comes along. Worth more than 5 stars, this book easily makes it into my top 10 books of all time - in all honesty, I’m a little lost for words. Despite it being 600 pages long, I wanted it to be longer; a truly remarkable read that will stay with me. Although it is a work of fiction, it reads as fact despite its supernatural elements, which are so believably written they also felt real. I was totally immersed in the story and the characters. Bravo to the author- perfection.Now if I could just delete it from my brain so I can read it again for the first time, that’d be wonderful.

What makes us fear for the characters in horror, if not an emotional attachment, or compassion? This novel, set in Gracetown, Florida, in the 1950s, begins with injustice and only gets worse as it goes on. The villain, the superintendent of the titular reformatory, is a truly monstrous figure readers will love to hate, while the sibling protagonists will have you rooting for them throughout. The author's note and afterword are eye opening, especially for a British reader like me with at best patchy knowledge of the experience of life in the American south in the fifties. They explain just how real the scenarios young Robert Stephens finds himself in were.Believe the hype. A masterpiece.

I was gripped from the start and struggled to put this book down! Mostly because I was soooo hopeful for a happy ending because it is a very very heavy book! A lot of evil done to poor innocent children, it was a hard read, & so well written you felt the emotions yourself. Pheeww! I'm tired after this one, I might need to move to romance novels for a while!

I've just received this book today and was not happy to find that at the time of one of the pages it is ripped and has a split in the page as well.

This was a magnificent and strange piece of writing, not at all what I was expecting but all the better for it. In many ways it's got parallels with Colson Whitehead's THE NICKEL BOYS, in so far as it concerns a boy who's unjustly sent to a brutal reform school, but Tananarive Due twists things off in a more supernatural direction. Much of the book focuses on the protagonist's experience of the 'haints' at the Reformatory, each of them a visible emblem of the horrors perpetrated there, and the literal realisation of these horrors is a real strength for the book.Structurally it's really effective, alternating between the story of Robert and his sister Gloria's desperate attempts to free him from his incarceration (in which she is thwarted at every turn by a multitude of systemic injustices). Due depicts all of this in a way that maintains a terrific pace and intensity. It rarely feels like a preachy book: while the messages are hardly subtle, they are secondary to telling a good story, and one that's full of surprises. It all comes together in a visceral, shocking conclusion that I found deeply satisfying.I suspect there will be some people who find the Reformatory disappointing in that it rarely feels spine-chilling. It's not that kind of horror novel, not really. Instead you'll get something more thoughtful and powerful, that finds visceral horrors in systemic injustice and in conveniently forgotten history. It's quite an achievement, and one that I hope will find a wide audience.

What a beautiful, terrible and grief riddled historical horror. I knew this would fill me with so many tears, reading with a pain in my heart, knowing that although fictionalised, this was based on an actual time in history, an actual place that existed- well that made this horror the most important book to be read.The writing is gorgeous, and so easy to grip your imagination and bury yourself in that I found myself not wanting to put it down because Robert Stephens story was so important to me that I wanted to read it all at once.Robert Stephens has already lost his mother to cancer and his father has been run out of town when he defends his sister by kicking the older, bigger white kid that is pawing at his big sister. After getting a beating from the boy's father Robert and his sister Gloria was thinking the matter was dealt with, until he was arrested and sentance to 6 months at the Reformatory. Robert is uncanny and sees the terrible fates of the boys from the past everywhere and it's not long before he finds out first hand how cruel and unjust life for boys like him are.If you liked the film The Devil's Backbone, you'll love this book. And if you love grief horror, and ghost stories this is going to be your next read. Just make sure you have something to catch your tears.

Har ej läst ännu, detta är en recension på hantering och frakten. Den kom i en tunn papperspåse och den är skadad på kanten på framsidan. Ser ut som att det släpper helt. Mycket tråkigt när man gillar att ha sina böcker framme så dem syns. De är som inredning för mig därför sjönk betyget pga detta.

This book is a masterpiece!This Author is truly gifted and this was indeed one of the best books I have read in a long time! This book was brutal, and raw, and what a despicable place! There is a lot of trauma and agony in this book that you not only read but you feel. With every single place! I hope it gets a Pulitzer because if there is such a story that deserves it it’s this!

I will always read a Due novel. She shared her personal connection to this story; and if you're a fan of history - you were probably aware of schools like this. Due's super natural infusion into this novel allows the reader to keep from being sorrowfully overwhelmed by the heartbreaking facts of what young people endured in these institutions. The outlying characters of Robbie's sister, Gloria, Ms. Lottie, June & Waymon (my favorite) offer small but hopeful respite - as the book does take place in 1950's Jim Crow South. Tananarive Due is my 2nd favorite science/horror writer (Octavia Butler being #1). This book is carefully researched; represents the era painfully and accurately; and offers the hope & resilience we all have for people in Robbie's shoes.

This book, while fiction, felt so real. Like you could reach out and touch it. I loved this book, admittedly, I had a hard time reading this (due to the language used and the horrors that humans have suffered during that time) but I highly encourage everyone to read this book. If not this book, then one like it. This is the kind of book that broadens your mind and perspective of good vs. evil in humanity.

I honestly don’t think I have the words to truly express my feelings about this book. It was just so well written. I felt like I was right there with the characters during the most intense moments, and my God there were many such moments. This is one of those books that stay with a while after you’ve finished.