Tananarive DueHorror · Fiction·b. 1966
The Reformatory
Synopsis
In 1950s Florida, twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens Jr. is sent to a brutal segregated reform school after defending his sister from a wealthy white boy. Robbie soon discovers the school is haunted by the ghosts of former students, whose restless spirits reveal the dark truth of what happens behind the gates. While Robbie struggles to survive the school's harsh reality, his sister Gloria fights a desperate legal battle to bring him home.
How it reads
Prose complexity 7/10
Content warnings (4)
AbuseViolenceTraumaDeath Of A Parent
- Beautifully written, engaging, and full of life, but also heartbreaking and horrifying. I loved everything about this book. I'm not sure how much I can say without spoiling anything but I loved the main characters and their journeys. Gloria and Robbie were such lovable, intelligent, and well-developed characters. Robbie specifically went through such a significant change because of his circumstances; the little boy in the beginning and end of the novel were incomparable. And this change was completely realistic and understandable. Like Redbone and Blue said, no one stays the same in the Reformatory. Gloria's inner turmoil, her fight for justice regardless of the consequences for herself were so well-written and commendable. These siblings went through hell during this one week the novel covered, and they were just kids. Speaking of Redbone, I was hoping to see just a little more of him at the end. I loved him and he deserved better, but he was yet another victim of the evil and the injustice of the town and his era, another representation of the real-life horrors; and as the author reveals, a symbol of what the real Robert Stephens, the author's uncle, endured. Miz Lottie was an angel. Mrs. Hamilton tried to do well; a lot of people did, even though they were outnumbered by the evil ones. Haddock was a truly evil psychopath, a compelling villain, but mainly a tangible, accessible symbol of the system and the town's wrong-doing; as Gloria herself said, everyone would try to blame him for all the horrifying crimes, while the whole town had a hand. Anyways, I enjoyed this book (it somehow feels wrong to use this verb but I don't know what else to say). This was my introduction to Tananarive Due, and I'm sure this won't be the last book I'll read from her.
- I checked out this book because I thought it was a horror. It was, but not in the way I was expecting. It's sad horror! Those poor kids. The poor families! Great book, kept me interested the whole time. I would have liked an epilogue.