“There are some things that once shattered can never be put back together again.”
─ Alice Broadway
“The puppeteer’s fingers trace their way up my spine and I shiver.”
─ Alice Broadway
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Book Information
Title: Scar (Ink Trilogy Book #3)
Author: Alice Broadway
Publisher: Scholastic Press, New York
ISBN 978-1-4071-7286-6
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Folk Tales, Fables, Fairy Tales
Ages: 14 +
282 pages
Book Summary:
Leora has learned an important lesson from her time spent in Saintstone and Featherstone, there are two sides to every story. Returning to Saintstone, still branded as a traitor, her only hope is to get them to listen. Everyone she encounters is so entrenched in their belief of the stories they know. Leora struggles to save herself, her loved ones, to make everyone understand that there is more they don’t know and haven’t been told.
Leora’s short life has been filled with lessons. First, growing up in Saintstone her life was filled with the lessons and stories of the marked. Then, her exile to Featherstone was filled with the lessons and stories of the blanks. Leora is tired of lessons, and what seems to be everyone else’s stories. She is half marked and have blank, of two worlds and two stories. It is time that her life changes from lessons to creating her story.
Shortly after returning to Saintstone, Leora is captured and turned into a pawn of Mayor Longsight. Leora is torn between escaping and following the rules, as the lives of her friends and family are dangled before her.
Things have changed drastically since the last time Leora was in Saintstone. Mayor Longsight has evolved from loved to an occult-like adoration by the townsfolk. Leora knows there has to be some explanation of his miracles, if only she could discover the truth. Would the people of Saintstone believe her?
As bits and pieces of the truth are discovered, she learns another important lesson that she needs to share with everyone. A story can be the truth, but only part of the truth until both sides of the story are understood.
Book Rating 3.5/5
Scar is the story about a girl who is discovering who she really is. In a world that is divided into the marked and the blanks, Leora finds she is an anomially as she is both. Leora grew up in Saintstone, a community of the marked separated and protected from the settlement of the blanks, Featherstone. The people from each community did not interact and haven’t since the historically split of two sisters.
Leora like other children learned the tales and warnings of the stories of the sisters. Yet these stories like many other things Leora grew up learning and knowing as the truth in Saintstone begin to unravel. Leora has spent time among the blanks and learned they are not so different. The blanks tell stories of their own. The stories are very similar to those of the marked, almost like twisted versions.
Leora learns how powerful stories really are. There is truth inside a story, and those who believe in the story can base the life, faith, and truth entirely. Unfortunately, there are two sides of a story, two truths, that must be understood to know the truth.
After being captured, Leora is place in the care of Mel, the storyteller. Together they start to unravel the stories of the blanks and marked in search of the truth. The duo struggle to learn the hidden truth of their stories before it is to late, and both the blanks and marked are destroyed.
I liked the way Broadway used fables, and fairy tales of the history of the blanks and marked to show how the truth the people of a community are raised with a different perspective or one sided truth of the events of their past. The stories depict similarities between the communities while being different, showing two separate truths without the complete truth. Leora is thrown in as a person of both communities who is either the catalyst for their destruction or savior.
My only complaint would be the way the book and trilogy ended. Broadway finished the book and trilogy with Leora having a sense of hope. There are characters that were key factors of destruction on both sides, or among the blanks and marked. These characters were driving forces in the turmoil and violence between the two communities. Broadway ended with these characters just disappearing into the night. No one knows where they went. So, they could potentially return, and the turmoil could begin all over again. This felt very open-ended and disappointing to me. Without the resolution of the fate of these characters, it left Leora’s story and troubles seem unending. Leora is depicted as a phoenix rising from the ashes. Instead of being broken she still retains hope. The fairy-talesque ended fit the style of the trilogies quiet well. My issue is that throughout the trilogy these characters were not seen or truly exposed to all for the damaged they did, it was depicted more as Leora’s untrustworthy word against theirs. The book ended with Leora and a few others knowing the truth, but many still believing the old stories.
The cover like the previous books, Ink and Spark has a very nice foiled design. The cover has a very nice red foiled design. Scar has a purple foiled design.
To find more information about Alice Broadway, her books, and book tours visit her site:
https://www.alice-broadway.com/
Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to keep things fair and balanced, in order to help you make the best choice for you.
To order your copy today of Scar, go to:
I know I usually also include a Barnes & Noble link to purchase the book. I was disappointed to find that Barnes & Noble didn’t offer Scar at the time of writing this review.