Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

18 reviews

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

ashtheaudiomancer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

This is my first Tananarive Due book, and everything I've heard about her writing has, if anything, been underplayed.  This is about a "reform school" that is a thinly veiled death camp where boys are sent for minor and/or imagined infractions, and many never get out. It's also haunted, and young Robbie's ability to communicate with ghosts might be his only chance of escaping. Not for the faint of heart, but essential reading for understanding one of the most unforgivable avenues of racism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Police brutality, and Abandonment

Minor: Terminal illness

Most of the content warnings you can infer from the description, but just be aware they are very much part of the story and you will not be able to skim over them.

thehmkane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-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

4.0

A very good and important book. While I enjoyed Due's prose, I felt like the pacing took much of the urgency out of the story - the climax moves at a good clip, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

zyxtasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

 - Oh my goodness, this book. My jaw was on the floor for nearly the entire 500+ pages of THE REFORMATORY.
- This book is beautifully written, expertly plotted, and a completely horrifying experience in multiple ways.
- Due drew on historical accounts and the history of her own family to write this book, and it shows. It often felt like I was reading a firsthand account of these terrible events, even when the supernatural elements were woven in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape and Slavery

Minor: Antisemitism

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

janatropper's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful slow-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? No

5.0

If you're looking for a scary story, you've come to the right place. 

This is a scary story, yes, but it's also a story of familial love, a historical fiction haunted with real horrors of the "good old days," and somehow, a map for finding a spring of hope in a desert. This is a slow burn read with dread woven into the very fabric of its premise, and sharp twists of the knife throughout. 

Tananarive Due has done her due (sorry) diligence in research: the book is sprinkled with cameos of and references to real people from the time period, both her own family members and public figures such as Ruby McCollum and NAACP president Harry Moore. Grounding this story in a shared past makes the genre elements all the closer to home. This is no alternate universe - it's very much ours.

The influence of Stephen King is clear here - even a near quote from Pet Sematary (you'll know it when you see it) - but this is no imitation. Where Stephen is king, Tananarive is the empress: yes, like King, she has memorable characters, efficient world-building, and a well-paced plot, but along with all this, she lets the narrative breathe. She lets her characters explore every avenue of escaping their fates and builds tension with every page by methodically shutting them down one at a time - in the dead of night among the spirits of half-burned corpses, in the broad daylight of a public road, in the chambers of a racist judge whose exploitation of loopholes and shield of privilege allows for state-sanctioned kidnapping, assault, and murder.

There are rare moments to catch one's breath. And in those moments of hope and occasionally even joy, a reader can almost forget the looming danger over nearly every character. Almost.

The theme that resonated with me on my first read was the exploration of power dynamics across identities: color, gender, ability, age, and even living status. Who creates the systems, who enforces the systems to benefit from the aura of privilege, who has inherits power, who earns it, and who could have it if only they knew the strength of their numbers. 

This book may be one you read once, its words rooted deeply into your soul. It may be one you reread again in different seasons of your life to see which ghosts still haunt you. There is only one way to find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abandonment

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism