Scan barcode
A review by sleepysamreads
The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann
5.0
You can find this review and others on my blog SleepySamReads!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book took my breath away. It was gorgeous and heartbreaking. I honestly loved all four of the main characters so much, which is unusual. When there’s so many POVs one or two are bound to be unfavorable, but I honestly loved reading all of theirs.
Alice is a young black girl who was abandoned at The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded for her club foot. She is only one of two black girls at the school so she has to adhere to an even stricter set of rules than the other girls. She is hopelessly in love with Maxine, though she never shows it.
Maxine is the dreamer of the group. She dreams up unbelievable futures for her and her younger sister, Rose. And if she was being honest, for Alice too. Maxine does the best to take care of her sister after her mother dropped them both off nearly 5 years ago.
Rose is Maxine’s younger sister who has Down syndrome. She is sunshine. I absolutely loved reading her POV. I have never read a book with the POV of someone with Down syndrome and I absolutely love learning more about Rose. She’s not as naive as her sister would like to believe. She helps the new charge, London, squirrel away rations to run aways with.
London is a fighter. You really can’t describe her any other way. She has had a life of heartbreak after heartbreak. Her parents are both dead by the time she is four and she bounces around from shitty foster homes until she lands with the Old Lady who is a little less shitty than everyone else. Unfortunately, London is dragged to The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded after becoming pregnant at 14 without being married.
This story is about these four girls trying to survive in such a horrible, horrible place. I really really loved all of them and loved this story so much.
I love that the author did A TON of research and based all the characters off real people in history. All these girls existed. It was heartbreaking to see her lay out the references she had detailing these very real girls who had to go through all this heartbreak. All the teachers, doctors, and attendants existed as well. How any human being can treat other human beings that way truly baffles me.
I think it was a little bit of a shock to realize that because of my disabilities and my sexuality I could have very easily been amongst them had I been born a century earlier.
The only negative thing I do have to say about this story is that I didn’t love how the story was left so open for two of the characters. I know that it was very realistic, but I wish we could have had just a little bit of closure.
I think this really educates on the history of eugenics and I highly recommend giving it a read!
I will end this review on this note; I do highly recommend this book but PLEASE be careful. There’s a very explicit scene of a late term miscarriage. It was very hard for me to read and I know it will be triggering to some. Be cautious!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book took my breath away. It was gorgeous and heartbreaking. I honestly loved all four of the main characters so much, which is unusual. When there’s so many POVs one or two are bound to be unfavorable, but I honestly loved reading all of theirs.
Alice is a young black girl who was abandoned at The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded for her club foot. She is only one of two black girls at the school so she has to adhere to an even stricter set of rules than the other girls. She is hopelessly in love with Maxine, though she never shows it.
Maxine is the dreamer of the group. She dreams up unbelievable futures for her and her younger sister, Rose. And if she was being honest, for Alice too. Maxine does the best to take care of her sister after her mother dropped them both off nearly 5 years ago.
Rose is Maxine’s younger sister who has Down syndrome. She is sunshine. I absolutely loved reading her POV. I have never read a book with the POV of someone with Down syndrome and I absolutely love learning more about Rose. She’s not as naive as her sister would like to believe. She helps the new charge, London, squirrel away rations to run aways with.
London is a fighter. You really can’t describe her any other way. She has had a life of heartbreak after heartbreak. Her parents are both dead by the time she is four and she bounces around from shitty foster homes until she lands with the Old Lady who is a little less shitty than everyone else. Unfortunately, London is dragged to The Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded after becoming pregnant at 14 without being married.
This story is about these four girls trying to survive in such a horrible, horrible place. I really really loved all of them and loved this story so much.
I love that the author did A TON of research and based all the characters off real people in history. All these girls existed. It was heartbreaking to see her lay out the references she had detailing these very real girls who had to go through all this heartbreak. All the teachers, doctors, and attendants existed as well. How any human being can treat other human beings that way truly baffles me.
I think it was a little bit of a shock to realize that because of my disabilities and my sexuality I could have very easily been amongst them had I been born a century earlier.
The only negative thing I do have to say about this story is that I didn’t love how the story was left so open for two of the characters. I know that it was very realistic, but I wish we could have had just a little bit of closure.
I think this really educates on the history of eugenics and I highly recommend giving it a read!
I will end this review on this note; I do highly recommend this book but PLEASE be careful. There’s a very explicit scene of a late term miscarriage. It was very hard for me to read and I know it will be triggering to some. Be cautious!