Five Stars! Six Stars! Ten Stars! Twenty Stars!

It was the tiniest of infractions, the equivalent of a school yard kick, but in this small Florida town in 1950 it was enough to get twelve-year-old Robert Stephens arrested and brought before a racist judge, in a corrupt system. Charged with assaulting the son of a wealthy white planter, Robert is harshly sentenced to spend six months at the Gracetown Boys Reformatory, a ‘school’ rumoured to be so terrible that some boys don’t survive.

The Reformatory was a literary fiction epic masterpiece combining a mix of genres – historical, horror, gothic horror, thriller, paranormal, spiritual – to create a phenomenal, unforgettable, terrifying, hard-hitting, heartbreaking, powerful, fast-paced, race-against-the-clock, magical, compelling, read. The scope of this story, depth of research, and attention to detail was astounding. Tananarive Due expertly crafted immersive setting descriptions, imagery, and sensory detail to fit what the POV character was experiencing at the time. The first 31% of the book took place over a 24-hour period which included ‘the incident’, Robert’s arrest, and his first day at the Reformatory so we got to experience every horrific moment, and injustice alongside him.

The two main narrators were Robert of course, and his seventeen-old-sister Gloria, desperately fighting to free her brother, while unwittingly drawing unwanted attention, and placing her own life in danger. Gloria’s chapters were a reprieve from the horrors within the walls of the Reformatory, even though they were still bleak and harsh. Both characters were resilient, brave, strong, and empathetic. Robert cared about, and wanted to help all the boys, living or dead. I was on the edge of my seat hoping against hope that Robert and Gloria would be reunited by the end and there would be retribution and punishment for the evil characters.

Then there were the Haints, (a Southern expression for ghosts or restless spirits) dead children whose lives were cut short so violently, brutally, and suddenly that their traumatised souls remained trapped in the Reformatory, bound to haunt its rooms and grounds forever, unable to move on. Robert and Gloria were both born with the gift of premonitions and visions, although Gloria tried to suppress/ignore hers. Robert’s unique ability allowed him to communicate with the Haints, making me ache for their situation. Through Robert, the spirits were able to share their memories of who they had been in life, what they had endured, and how they had died, so that someone would remember them.

Even though the Gracetown Boys Reformatory, and the town of Gracetown were fictional, the torture, cruelty, and abuse that was inflicted upon children in real life institutions by soulless evil psychopaths throughout history unfortunately was not. The same applies to the racism, ignorance, simplemindedness, and police brutality that existed in Gracetown.

Listing the many trigger warnings and while completely agreeing that the content of this novel will be too triggering for some readers, at the same time I’m determined not to put people off, as the story of these unforgettable characters is 100% worth your time. The Reformatory is my top read of 2025 so far, will definitely make my top list for this year, and I’ve just added it to my Goodreads profile as one of my favourite reads of all time.