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A review by readingfornow
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
2024:
God this book really is a masterpiece. So well paced I'm SO excited to get into Rule of Wolves, this book sticks with me really everyday, and reminds me of the Magdalene Laundries. I'm adding in the piece I wrote when I initially read it in 2021. Sensitive topic ahead.
Needed to speak a bit about this. This is mainly brought on by me reading King of Scars, no spoilers, but there’s a similar theme and although it’s a fantasy novel it still hit me hard.
In the book there are women, hidden away, pregnant and addicted a drug (all based in a pretty much unrealistic world, with magical elements), this was a reality for some women in Ireland.
I have felt no greater shame than being Irish. For the last 100 years, our ancestors, mothers and grandmothers, have been punished for the greed of the Catholic Church. These were called Mother and Baby homes in Ireland. In 2016, in Tuam Co. Galway, a mass grave of 800 babies was discovered.
Women who were pregnant out of wedlock, were put into homes ran by ruthless nuns, forced to clean until their hands bled, and they gave birth. These births were unmedicated, often unassisted. Then, as if this was not harmful enough, the babies were ripped from their arms never to be seen again. Some were adopted to families who made a generous donation to the Church, others were thrown into a septic tank to die within their first week of life.
The last of these homes was shut in 1998.
It is estimated around 9,000 babies died. The scars of this period live on, with mothers still unaware of where their child is, if they lived or died. No person deserves that kind of horror. The investigation was still only recently finished, with families still waiting on reparations. These homes operated from 1922 to 1998. As a young woman who grew up in Ireland, I know too well the of deeply troubling, unsettling history of my country. I am ashamed of it, each and every day. I wanted you all to know it too.
2021:
I REALLY loved the plot of this story. Leigh Bardugo made the world of Grisha even more complex and I’m so happy with how she did it. It was super fast paced and I loved the characters, although I would have maybe preferred it without Isaac’s perspective. I thought this was such a good addition to the Grishaverse!
If you haven’t read any of Leigh Bardugo I definitely recommend you start with Shadow and Bone though, most of the characters come from that series.
God this book really is a masterpiece. So well paced I'm SO excited to get into Rule of Wolves, this book sticks with me really everyday, and reminds me of the Magdalene Laundries. I'm adding in the piece I wrote when I initially read it in 2021. Sensitive topic ahead.
Needed to speak a bit about this. This is mainly brought on by me reading King of Scars, no spoilers, but there’s a similar theme and although it’s a fantasy novel it still hit me hard.
In the book there are women, hidden away, pregnant and addicted a drug (all based in a pretty much unrealistic world, with magical elements), this was a reality for some women in Ireland.
I have felt no greater shame than being Irish. For the last 100 years, our ancestors, mothers and grandmothers, have been punished for the greed of the Catholic Church. These were called Mother and Baby homes in Ireland. In 2016, in Tuam Co. Galway, a mass grave of 800 babies was discovered.
Women who were pregnant out of wedlock, were put into homes ran by ruthless nuns, forced to clean until their hands bled, and they gave birth. These births were unmedicated, often unassisted. Then, as if this was not harmful enough, the babies were ripped from their arms never to be seen again. Some were adopted to families who made a generous donation to the Church, others were thrown into a septic tank to die within their first week of life.
The last of these homes was shut in 1998.
It is estimated around 9,000 babies died. The scars of this period live on, with mothers still unaware of where their child is, if they lived or died. No person deserves that kind of horror. The investigation was still only recently finished, with families still waiting on reparations. These homes operated from 1922 to 1998. As a young woman who grew up in Ireland, I know too well the of deeply troubling, unsettling history of my country. I am ashamed of it, each and every day. I wanted you all to know it too.
2021:
I REALLY loved the plot of this story. Leigh Bardugo made the world of Grisha even more complex and I’m so happy with how she did it. It was super fast paced and I loved the characters, although I would have maybe preferred it without Isaac’s perspective. I thought this was such a good addition to the Grishaverse!
If you haven’t read any of Leigh Bardugo I definitely recommend you start with Shadow and Bone though, most of the characters come from that series.