I am loving how authors of color are using horror as a device to articulate the horrors of colonization and racism. Set in Jim Crow Florida, THE REFORMATORY begins when a 12 year old boy, Robbie Stephens Jr., is sentenced for hitting a white boy (who started the fight) and is sent to a “reform school” that perhaps may just be a little more prison than school. Very sketchy things ensue and perhaps the school is just a little bit haunted as a consequence of the dark happenings behind closed doors. Robbie is determined to survive and his sister, Gloria, on the outside is determined to get Robbie out.

The book takes its time setting things up, but by the end, the suspense is one hell of a roller coaster ride as you both realize the real horrors are the people and wish your hardest that the siblings will make it.

4.5/5
Thank you to Saga Press, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free e-copy of this book!

Please be warned the triggers in this read include: racial slurs, abuse, extreme violence , racism..

The storytelling in this read was beyond words and left me speechless from start to end. The Reformatory takes place in 1950's Gracetown, Florida, following both Gloria and Robert (Robbie) Stephens, when Robert found himself being sent to a Boy's School (which is led by THE MOST disgusting man) after an incident with his neighbor.

This was a horrific, heart-dropping, stomach-turning read, that was written so well. And knowing that this read was inspired by true events from Tananarive Due's family history made it that much more memorable. Historical Fiction at its finest.