Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

8 reviews

mitchell_1's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

robin1b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5✨✨ Very few fiction books are a 5 to me. A 4.5 is normally just a perfect as can be. Then comes a unicorn. The Reformatory is the unicorn. Due has created a world that feels so really because it is real and fiction at the same time. From the first page, you are drawn into the characters and the plot. You cry, you rage and you sometimes smile. History and truth is intertwined with ghosts, haights and old wives tales which may or may not be true. The story is peppered with names and stories you may have heard in history class during Black history month. 

Set in the 1950’s during Jim Crow in Florida, we follow two children who battle more than any of us imagine and so much of it is true yet still fiction. Read this book and get ready. Get ready to go on a ride that will take your breath away. 

Spice: 0/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Religious bigotry

narbine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

Loved this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

gwenswoons's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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

5.0

Whew. This was an agonizing, devastating, painful read. But the storytelling and the world-building is unlike anything I’ve ever read, I think. My Dad has been obsessed with Tananarive Due for the last several months - reading absolutely every word she’s written - and I read this since it was the first one he read and started telling me about a while ago. It’s astonishing by every measure: gorgeous writing, unflinchingly  in the telling of history, a vivid point of view all the time. Every possible content warning for this - it is a novel about the Jim Crow south, and the violence and terror permeates every moment. If you have the mental space and the fortitude, it is profoundly worth reading. I listened on audio (truly excellent narration by Joniece Abbott-Pratt), and I had to take big breaks and listen to/read lighter stuff - it’s scary and deeply heavy. I kept thinking it was like if Stephen King (à la The Institute, in the most possible parallel to me) seriously knew how to write (literary fiction), had a real reason for telling the story he was telling, was actually able to inhabit other perspectives. This story is loosely based on/inspired by part of Due’s family history, which includes an uncle who was killed at a similar (real/not fictional) institution in Jim Crow Florida. Anyway - I am grateful to have finished this - emotionally wrecked - but will be thinking about it for a long time and hope you will take the time to read this novel or other works of Tananarive Due’s.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wylovat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War

lyndsay_bibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

"The Reformatory" is a powerful and important read. It's a book that will stay with you, urging reflection and action. Highly recommended, but be prepared for the emotional wringer. Set just 74 years ago, a blink in history, it's a brutal reminder of the horrors inflicted under Jim Crow and the dehumanizing systems that still linger today. This is a story that feels alarmingly relevant, its weight settling like an ache in my chest.

Due's incredible storytelling weaves suspense, sadness, and even glimmers of humor, creating characters so real they stay with you long after the final page. This book confronts uncomfortable truths, challenging us to examine our own responses to systemic injustice.

The author's note is essential and the suggested reading list is great to consider adding to your TBR. This book isn't just a compelling read; it's a catalyst for understanding, action, and dismantling the remnants of those same dehumanizing systems that continue to cast long shadows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

pocketbook's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book is beautifully written.   It's a story that is going to stick with you.   Although entirely fiction,  the story opens your eyes to the unfairness of the past.

Robbie is sent to a segregated boys reformatory school after he kicks a white boy who had been making inappropriate comments about his sister. 

Just asking about kids who have tried to escape gets Robbie sent to the Fun House, a place for punishment.  

Robbie and Gloria are the main points of view.

Occasionally the warden has a turn with his point of view.   Due does an amazing job creating an evil character who leaves the reader with incredibly visceral reactions. 

I recommend this book to people of every color who need to know what Jim Crow was like.   I also recommend it for people who believe in haints (ghosts).  It is a wonderful story of friendship, sibling relationship,  and family. 

I do have some content warnings-  very detailed description of fire and dying in a fire,  very disturbing look into the thoughts of a sociopath, multiple forms of abuse, violence,  guns and gun violence,  rape,  racial slurs, cursing, death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism