{"id":4914,"date":"2025-11-24T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4914"},"modified":"2025-11-24T06:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:05:00","slug":"the-reformatory-by-tananarive-due","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4914","title":{"rendered":"The Reformatory by Tananarive Due"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The Reformatory<\/strong> by <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/reviews\/authors\/tananarive-due\/\">Tananarive Due<\/a> <br \/>on January 7, 2025 <br \/><strong>Genres:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/reviews\/genres\/fiction-african-american-black-historical\/\">Fiction \/ African American &amp; Black \/ Historical<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/reviews\/genres\/fiction-historical-general\/\">Fiction \/ Historical \/ General<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/reviews\/genres\/fiction-horror\/\">Fiction \/ Horror<\/a> <br \/><strong>Pages:<\/strong> 576 <br \/><strong>Format:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/reviews\/formats\/paperback\/\">Paperback<\/a> <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3M90u7B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buy on Amazon<\/a> <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/5585386121\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Goodreads<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><em>Tananarive Due\u2019s<\/em> <strong>The Reformatory<\/strong> is a haunting, unforgettable blend of historical fiction and supernatural horror, set in 1950s Jim Crow Florida. Inspired by the real-life horrors of the infamous Dozier School for Boys, Due gives voice to the countless children whose stories were silenced\u2014and she does so with masterful, devastating precision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The novel follows twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens Jr., sentenced to six months at the segregated Gracetown School for Boys after defending his sister, Gloria. What awaits him is not reform but terror: brutal labor, unchecked racism, and the chilling reality of boys who enter the school and never leave. Robbie\u2019s ability to see ghosts\u2014<em>haints<\/em>\u2014adds another layer to the story, turning the supernatural into a powerful lens through which the truth of the school\u2019s horrors comes into focus. His friendships with fellow boys Redbone and Blue become lifelines, while Gloria\u2019s desperate efforts to bring him home highlight the strength and resilience of family even in the darkest circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">I read this for book club, and like many of the readers, I found myself echoing the same sentiment: <strong>\u201cHeartbreaking doesn\u2019t even begin to cover it.\u201d<\/strong> This is an important book, but one that can make you feel physically ill at times\u2014especially knowing that so much of it is drawn from real lives and real atrocities. Stories involving abused children are always incredibly difficult to read, and this one is brutal in its honesty. And yet, the narrative is so compelling, the pacing so tight, and the characters so richly developed that it becomes impossible to look away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Robbie, Gloria, and the boys of Gracetown feel achingly real; their pain is palpable, their hope fragile but unyielding. Due\u2019s writing honors their humanity even as it forces readers to confront the weight of this history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><em>The Reformatory<\/em> is not an easy read\u2014but it is a necessary one. A powerful, page-turning, and deeply affecting novel that lingers long after the final page.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ubb-final-rating\"><\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/the-reformatory-by-tananarive-due\/\">The Reformatory by Tananarive Due<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/booknookbuzz.com\/\">Book Nook Buzz<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Reformatory by Tananarive Due on January 7, 2025 Genres: Fiction \/ African American &amp; Black \/ Historical, Fiction \/ Historical \/ General, Fiction \/ Horror Pages: 576 Format: Paperback Buy on Amazon Goodreads Tananarive Due\u2019s The Reformatory is a haunting, unforgettable blend of historical fiction and supernatural horror, set in 1950s Jim Crow Florida. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}