The Reformatory
Books | Fiction / Horror
4.3
Tananarive Due
*Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner * New York Times Notable Book * Locus Award Finalist * Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award * “You’re in for a treat...one of those books you can’t put down...Due hit it out of the park.” —Stephen King A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.Gracetown, Florida June 1950 Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late. The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Tananarive Due
Pages
576
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2023-10-31
ISBN
1982188367 9781982188368
Community ReviewsSee all
"Wonderful Jim Crow horror story! "
C
CaitVD
"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."
Brandi Always Reading
"The horror from unnatural elements are rather minimal. If that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed. If real life, historical horror gets under your skin this will be a compelling read. It can be a difficult read with trigger warnings for racism, sexual abuse, and child abuse but it is also a powerful read. I also suggest reading the author's note for a more full appreciation of the narrative. "
DaRo reads
"This book is an absolute must read. Heavy and emotional but soo good. "
Megan Jungers
"Horror set in the south during the Jim Crow era. Won superior achievement in a novel in the bram stoker awards for 2024. "
jim sharpnack
"Audiobook Review: <br/>Story: was fascinating and thrilling. The time of JIm Crow laws and the unfair treatment /persecution of African Americans back then is the true horror around this book. The treatment of the boys at the reformatory is truly terrible. The storyline around Gloria’s POV made the book slow paced but I can see were it was needed. Robert’s POV was more fascinating and dealt more with the spooky side. <br/><br/>Narrator: I didn’t like this Narrator as much. Her tone for different characters got on my nerves. <br/><br/>All in all 3/5 stars."
Derrick
"3.5/5 - rounded up"
Cameron Fogle
"The scariest part about this book is that it happened. (Minus the ghosts and supernatural, which I mean, maybe that happened too.) It's based on the Florida School for Boys, a reform school that opened in 1900 and didn't close until 2011. Students were beat, tortured, raped and murdered. It's always the real things that real people do that's the most horrifying. <br/><br/>This book was unsettling and shocking, and felt an important read for understanding another dark part of our past, and unfortunately, present. <br/><br/>I did feel it was a bit longer than necessary, and that Gloria' sections slowed down the plot, so I feel if some of those had been cut it would've solved both issues. Overall an engrossing, thrilling, and haunting read."
Liesl Prentice
"Set in 1950s Jim Crow Florida, The Reformatory is part history, part ghost story, all engrossing! Based on the real Dozier School for Boys and the atrocities that occured there, this story centers on Robert Stephens, Jr; a preteen whose father is civil rights leader in town who has had to flee and leave Robert and his sister Gloria to be cared for by extended community family. Robert has been unfairly sent to the Gracetown School for Boys for an act that at best, could have been considered a skirmish between kids. While there he witnesses and experiences cruelty at the hands of the warden and his minions, and is tapped as a "haint" catcher. Meanwhile, his big sister Gloria is trying, in vain, to get him released. Filled with a colorful assortment of characters (Ms. Lottie, Redbone, Boone, and Blue, who made my jaw completely drop when his character's background is revealed!). <br/><br/>While not the typical gory, edge of your seat type of horror story one may be used to, The Reformatory explores the horror genre by balancing the very real, very macabre history of Jim Crow in America with the ghost story trope. Any time an author can weave a story using history to not only entertain, but pique the interest of the reader to want to learn more about the actual people and events the story is based on, that's a win IMO. The only reason I am giving this 4 scrollz instead of 5 is because of the length, it could have maybe been 25-50 shorter, and once the "A-ha!" moment came, the pacing could have picked up a bit more."
Liz Thurman
