Sacred Scars
Atheneum, 2009
Fantasy
ISBN: 0689840950
560 pages
Synopsis
Sadima, Franklin, and Somiss, driven out of Limòri by a suspicious fire, are living in a cave hidden within the cliffs that overlook the city. Somiss is convinced the dark passages of the caves were the home of ancient magicians, and his obsession with restoring magic deepens. Sadima dreams of escape – for her, for Franklin, and for the orphaned street boys Somiss has imprisoned in a crowded cage. Somiss claims he will teach these boys magic, that they will become his first students, but Sadima knows he is lying.
Generations later, Hahp is struggling to survive the wizards’ increasingly dangerous classes at the Limòri Academy of Magic. He knows the fragile pact he has forged with his secretive roommate, Gerrard, will not be enough to put an end to the evil. It will take all the students acting together to have any chance of destroying the academy. Building trust, with few chances to speak or plan, will be almost impossible, but there is no choice.
Critique
Kathleen Duey has once again given us one of the darkest books that I’ve ever read in the realm of young adult literature. At some level, I actually mean that as a compliment. There’s a reason Skin Hunger won the awards it did, because it’s brave and complex, and doesn’t just succumb to the typical fantasy tropes that so many bad fantasy writers rely on to make their stories interesting. She writes with a depth that very few fantasy writers are able to accomplish.
For Sacred Scars specifically, I personally liked it a little less than the first. Part of that may be that I’ve already gotten used to what made the first book so unique, but I think it’s mostly that I honestly have a difficult time reading a book that’s so dark and full of minute-to-minute cheek-biting drama. It’s actually kind of exhausting. Not that I mind there being a third on its way, but I was kind of hoping this was a duo instead of a trio because I’m so mired into the story that I want it to end for the sake of my own sanity (of sorts. Certainly it’s not quite that dramatic).
Altogether, another brilliant book from Duey, whose ability to expose the darkness of the human psyche is almost unnerving. I recommend this to older readers looking for something more than the run of the mill fantasy book (or book in general).
The other book in this trilogy so far is Skin Hunger (book 1).
Rating Rubric
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For the Classroom
Since this text operates in a parallel world with separate cultures, societal issues, natural laws and histories than our own, there’s not much to use as a classroom companion.
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