Kingdom of Scars

by Eoin C. Macken

'Macken paints a realistic picture through descriptive and engaging narrative, which pulls the reader into Sam's journey of self-discovery. Each page brings with it a sense of nostalgia, encouraging the reader to remember with fondness and fear their own childhood.' --Laura Butler, Irish Independent

Sam Leahy is a shy, fifteen-year-old boy navigating two social worlds: the uptight bullies at his all-boys’ private school and the small uncouth gang in his neighbourhood.

This gang of five follows the typical teenage-boy pattern: they drink, smoke, cause fights and vandalize property. Sam desperately wants to be accepted, but he soon finds that the only way to gain respect amongst the crew is to fight violence with violence. And it hurts.

When it comes to girls, Sam is clueless, but when he inadvertently meets Antoinette, the girl of his dreams, who is perfect, blonde, slender and sexy, he is enamoured . . . only to learn that falling in love has a price.

But being a teenager is all about redemption and recrimination, small events becoming catastrophic, and seemingly huge moments eventually meaning nothing. Through these events that shape a teen, Sam discovers the boundaries of sexuality, friendship, authority, and the possibility of death.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Irish Literature, Coming Of Age, Ireland

344 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2014

About the author

Macken studied acting and began theatre in the UCD drama society, and with Graham Cantwell and Rachel Rath in the Attic Studio.

Macken got his first major film role in 2005, in Studs directed by Paul Mercier, also starring Brendan Gleeson and Emmett J. Scanlan. Subsequently Macken played leading roles in indie films Triple Bill and Rise of the Bricks, before moving to Los Angeles to train with acting coach Vincent Chase, once he had completed his honors degree in Psychology.

After the death of his father in 2007, Macken took a break from acting. He returned to the performing the following year in the role of drug dealer Gavin Cluxton, in the RTÉ's flagship soap Fair City. He played the part for more than four months and also appeared live on the show Fair City Sings, where he performed "Hallelujah".

Macken wrote and edited his debut feature film Christian Blake, which premiered at the Mid Ulster Film Festival 2008, before playing in the 2008 Galway Film Fleadh. It was released on May 19, 2009 with Celebrity Distribution and the sales company Around The Scenes Inc. He co-wrote and directed the song and video for Una Healy's song "Don't Leave Me Alone". The track was the title track for the no budget indie film, for which Healy wrote much of the sound track.[8] In 2008, Macken directed, wrote, edited and acted in his second feature film, Dreaming For You. The film featured a soundtrack composed by Dublin band, The Evora. The film was selected for the 2007 Los Angeles Short Film Festival and for the 2009 Galway Film Fleadh.

In 2009 and 2010, Macken had roles in BBC drama Small Island, playing an American soldier named Calhoon, Neil Marshall's film Centurion opposite Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham, and the second season of RTÉ's Raw. He also appeared in Storyland, as well as Lee Cronin's film Through The Night opposite Nora Jane Noone, and Siren opposite Anna Skellern.

Macken directed an hour length documentary on the Irish fashion industry The Fashion of Modelling which screened on RTÉ 2 on May 24, 2009.

Between 2010 and 2012, Macken played the recurring character of Gwaine (loosely based on the image of Gawain) in the BBC One TV series Merlin. He has reprised the role in four episodes of the third series and all episodes of the fourth and fifth series. Gwaine is portrayed as a care-free and laid back man who provides a lot of comic relief for the show, but, remains brave and loyal throughout his time on the show. In the final episode his character perished after being tortured with a snake by Morgana (Played by Katie McGrath). His friend, Percival arrives to save him, but, is too late and Gwaine's final thought is that he failed after giving in to the torture and revealing the injured king's destination. Gwaine was described as a man who "deep down respects honour, valour and camaraderie above everything else."

In October 2012 Macken completed shooting for Cold. The feature film was written and directed by Macken, and he stars in the film alongside his Merlin co-star, Tom Hopper. The plot centres around two disconnected English brothers who are outcasts in a small village in the west of Ireland. Drawn back together by the unexpected death of their father, they are immediately at odds with each other until they find a girl dumped in the moors. The film was partially crowdfunded through an Indiegogo campaign.

Reviews

[Sabrina]

Sir Gwaine wrote a book, so I feel it is my duty to Camelot to read this.

[Margaret Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteen year old schoolboy, Sam, is at that stage where he has one foot in childhood, and the other is on the cusp of maturity. One minute he reads football magazines, the next he dreams of sleeping with girls and escaping his boring suburban existence. Although he attends a private catholic school, in Dublin, he struggles to belong to any one group and finds himself bullied on an almost daily basis. Even when he returns home to the affluent area of Howth, he jumps from the frying pan into the fire, as his desire to fit in with local lads causes more misery than it's worth. The bruises, shame, disrespect and abuse are a constant in Sam's world, but he persists, on a dangerous journey through the wilderness of adolescence.

I started this novel with no pre-conceptions, no plot detail and no genre assignment. After the first chapter, I went online and ordered copies for all of my nephews (teenagers) with the hope that they will read this book and know what power writing can wield. Eoin Macken has dissected the awful inner world of a teenage boy, showing how sometimes wanting the wrong thing can be the only way to survive among peers. The drink, the drugs, the sex and the violence, these can often be misconstrued as being a side effect of location, upbringing and parental neglect. This novel is a perfect example of how this is not true. The need to fit in can sometimes overtake all common sense, no matter what age one is, and right and wrong can easily become blurred.

The moment where Sam meets a schoolgirl, from Bray, called Antoinette, is such a delicate passage. The innocence, flirting, clumsiness and uncertainty that the author describes is delightful. The first kiss, the raging hormones and consequent let downs are enough to bring back the bushing days of any adolescent. Sam is a genuine good guy, deep down wanting to please everyone, prepared to do anything to get through the day in one piece. His parents are unaware of the hard knocks he is taking, despite the bruises and scars, but his mentor in school is ever watchful. Teachers seem to take a dislike to Sam too and the weight of the world appears to be on his shoulders. Yet, throughout all this, he just wants to be loved. To find love. To find his space.

This is a novel of fear, uncertainty and the constant demand to fit in. Considering the approach to adolescent mental health, in the teenage age bracket, in this country, maybe more adults should read this book and take notes. Not all children are as happy and content as they seem, and not all boys are as miserable as they pretend to be either. Balance is the key. Balance and honesty.

Spectacular debut fiction....

[Melissa Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

There has only been one other time in my entire life when a book has affected me this much emotionally. (The other book is "Shadows Of Truth" by Angie Robinson, which I highly recommend.) In most books you can get attached to the characters, you laugh and you cry and you get drawn into this fictional world you're reading about. The difference between that general experience and my personal experience with this book is that with "Kingdom Of Scars" I didn't just get attached to the main character, Sam - I felt like I WAS him and I felt like I was going through everything in this story right beside him. I mean yeah, obviously I don't know what it's like to be a teenage boy but it's the general themes that really got to me, and random tiny things too.

When I was 15, I felt a lot like Sam. I tried so hard to fit in with a certain group of people and they were my friends but yet I always felt like I wasn't quite on their level and like I was a bit of an outsider with them. They'd make plans together that I didn't know about until I got to school the next day and they were all talking about how much fun they had. And just like Sam, they would sometimes offer me drugs. But unlike Sam, I didn't quite have the strength to say no or do what he did at one point - put the pill in his mouth then take it out when the others weren't looking. Because of that, I got really into drugs and used them off and on for about 6 years.
Then there's the sex. I had never kissed anyone before and my first kiss was scary and let's just say my first sexual experience was just as awkward and horrible as Sam's was. And speaking of this topic, the scenes in this story that involve sex give a lot of detail and yet aren't erotic/sexy/whatever like most books attempt to pull off. I found that really interesting for some reason (also I prefer it that way).

There aren't really huge moments of suspense and a ton of action, which you'd think would make the book boring, right? Wrong. Somehow the mellow day-to-day type of vibe was intriguing to me and it feels so much more genuine than all of the other books I've read with the same sort of theme. And the way Macken writes... it's honestly mind blowing how much talent this guy has. He pulls off literally the exact writing style I've been trying so hard to achieve which is kind of odd because it weirdly feels like he found a way to read my mind, take my writing style then make it way better. It's sort of the same deal with his poetry (which you should definitely check out here.) But of course that's just my personal experience.
In general, I firmly believe that anyone who reads this book can relate to at least some parts of it. We were all 15 at one point in our lives (uh unless you're a reader under 15 of course) and let's face it, it was not easy.

Most people say that Eoin Macken is primarily an actor who just happens to write as well. After reading his work I see it the other way around - he's definitely first and foremost a writer. And a damn good one too, which will be obvious to you when you read "Kingdom Of Scars".

I very much look forward to more of Eoin's work, whether it's another novel, or a book of poetry, or a mixture of the two. And I will also be forever jealous of this guy's talent.

[Rebekah May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars! I actually really enjoyed reading this. I was putting off going into this book because I bought it on a whim without really knowing what it was about. I rarely pick up novels that aren't historical fiction or fantasy, never mind contemporary or coming-of-age stories, because I don't have much luck with them. But sometimes I get lucky, and this was one of those times.

Sam is your typical fifteen year old. He wants to experiment with girls, hang about with his friends, and cause a little bit of havoc with them, if the chance arises. He's a very real character, and I think that's what I liked most about this book. Everything is very real. There was a lot of themes in this that really interested me, though I'm not sure whether they were all there on purpose. School feels like a world away to me now, even though it's only been six years since I was fifteen, and I still vividly remember the need to fit in. Sexual experiences, drinking, being places we weren't supposed to be, every teenager went through it. And so is Sam. He wants to prove to the boys that he's masculine and tough enough to be in their gang. He wants to sleep with a pretty girl because his best friend has already done it and he feels left behind. He wants to get drunk and smoke cigarettes and maybe do drugs if the peer pressure is high enough. He wants to be a part of the group, he wants to be taken seriously, and he wants to have the same experience as everyone else. Even with Don, who was an adult and not a part of his social life at all. I think everyone can relate to that.

The way Sam changes around different crowds of people was interesting. And the way he had to assert his masculinity when he felt like he'd been embarrassed or degraded was interesting as well. As a female, when I was embarrassed it didn't feel like I was any less feminine (because that's already degrading enough apparently; thanks, society!) but for boys I never even began to think how that would affect them in that way. When Jayo was having a bit of an episode it was strange that they all just let him win but because they didn't talk about it it didn't affect their self esteem the way it did when any of the others challenged each other. A very interesting insight into the mind of a teenage boy.

I also found the fact that every little event was seemingly a huge moment in Sam's life very relatable. In school I think everything is such a massive deal and it was a reminder of how young Sam actually is, especially in that the things that made up feel upset or angry were a bigger deal than the moments which made him happy.

I really appreciated the interview with Macken at the end. The poems, also. I love it when books start and/or end with poems, especially when the author writes them themselves. The interview was a lovely little insight into Eoin Macken's mind, and it answered a couple of questions I had about the novel as a whole. It felt almost as though I was reading a memoir, or part of one, at least, and learning that Macken pulled bits and pieces from his own teenage experience wasn't surprising at all.

I'm not sure that this could even qualify as a review, but these are my thoughts after finishing the book half an hour ago. An enjoyable read, one that I would pick up again, for sure.

[Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 solid stars for Kingdom of Scars

Oh the sting that adolescence doth begets. This was a story of discovery and development for a teenage boy named Sam. It was actually quite depressing and I wanted very much to jump in and defend this poor lad. Not my usual genre—however I am glad to have read it as it was very well written.

[Rosemary Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the story behind my picking up this book to read, is this:
I have more or less followed the author, who is an actor I really like, since his days on BBC's Merlin (and a lot of other people seem to have done the same, which is great). Anyway, roughly at a similar time to when Eoin Macken announced the novel's release, I was applying to study in Dublin for a semester. I vaguely searched a few bookshops in Melbourne to find a copy but I couldn't, and I figured hey, I'll just order it on Book Depository at some point. Then, by January 2016 I was accepted to study abroad for a semester, and I moved to Dublin for that time. In my first week there, I walked into an Easons (bookshop) and went looking for this book, and I found it. What's more, I'm pretty certain that the Easons I went into that day is the exact one described in the book. So that's pretty cool, I think. However, I didn't purchase a copy that day - I waited until my very last day in Dublin, six and a half months later. Then I bought it, brought it all the way back to Australia with me, and read it here in Melbourne. It was maybe a slightly odd way of doing it, but it worked for me, because by that stage I was familiar with most of the places mentioned in the story. Reminisce strong.

My thoughts on the book:
I liked it, particularly as a YA novel that seems like a pretty accurate account of one boy's adolescence. It's the sort of story that isn't overly happy, but isn't fully dark and depressing either. There's a kind of tension you can feel between Sam, the protagonist, and the rest of his world; he's resentful and distrustful, as well as being full of bitter longing for something he thinks he ought to have, whether it's a girl, a group of mates, or an elusive air of coolness. He makes a series of poor decisions, but nothing overly damaging. And in the end, he starts to grow up.

[Katie Doberstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I honestly don't even know where to begin. This book completely took me by surprise.

I downloaded Kingdom of Scars on Kindle after reading about it on Eoin's Twitter page. I know I'm really late to the game with this but in my defense I had only just discovered he is also an author. Anyhow, I had only planned on starting out with a chapter or two to begin with. A few hours later I found myself just sitting in my chair with the entire book finished. I couldn't get over how amazing this book was. I'll be completely honest- I normally would not pick up a book like this but I was curious to see what Eoin's writing would be like. The story drew me in immediately. Through all of Sam's struggles you find yourself just wanting to pick him up and tell him everything is going to be ok. I loved how he evolved so much as a character upon the ending of the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for such a surprisingly fantastic read.

[Elizabeth Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very first page, you will be drawn intimately into the world of a teenage boy growing up in Howth. You walk directly into Sam's world experiencing his growing pains and increasing self awareness as he navigates through the challenges of being a teenager. It is a real and honest coming of age story with no holds barred. Some characters stay with you long after you finish a book - Sam is one of those characters. Once you start reading, you will not want to put it down.
This is woefully inadequate in describing the caliber of this wonderful book. It is simply brilliant. How I envy those who can weave words together so beautifully. It is truly a great book. Eoin Macken is an extremely gifted writer and I really hope he will continue to write and publish many more books in the future.

[Brianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a struggle to finish. As much as I wanted to like this one for Eoin, I just couldn’t. It was 330 pages of excessive purple prose, limited plot, and even more minimal character development. Though I also know this book was focused on Sam’s narration, told in third person, I was disturbed at the graphic sexual depictions of 15 year old girls.

[gemsbooknook Geramie Kate Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteen year old Sam Leahy is trying to navigate two social worlds. The bullies from his uptight all boys private school and the teenage gang in his neighbourhood. The neighbourhood gang spends their time drinking, smoking and fighting. Sam must adopt these behaviours to be accepted. Add the hormones of a 15-year-old boy to this mix and Sam is out of his depth.

I adored this book.

I read Kingdom Of Scars when it first came out and I remember raving about it to everyone who would listen. When I started my blog I put it straight on the read again list so I could review it and I am so glad I did. Re reading this book was really nostalgic for me. Not only did it take me back to my own teen years but it was like catching up with an old friend.

I was drawn into this book from the first page. I had planned to pace myself with this book but that all went out the window after the first chapter and I ended up finishing it in one sitting. It was genuinely un-put-down-able.

I felt deeply connected to Sam, I honestly can't think of another character that I have related to in the same way I related to Sam. Eoin Macken did an outstanding job in creating this character. There were times when I wasnt experiencing things with Sam, I was Sam. I felt like I was watching scenes from my own teen years play out on the pages in front of me.

Macken's writing , whilst grounded in reality, paints a beautiful picture through his descriptive, almost cinematic writing style. The cinematic quality of Macken's writing is perfectly highlighted in the scenes involving violence and teenage power struggles. These testosterone fueled scenes were so perfectly written, you could feel the tension seeping off the pages.

I honestly can't think of another book like Kingdom Of Scars and I can't think of a bad word to say about it.

Kingdom Of Scars by Eoin Macken is a literary treasure that is not to be missed.

Geramie Kate Barker
gemsbooknook.wordpress.com

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a lot of people who have read this book, I have heard of Eoin Macken because of his role in BBC's Merlin. I was hesitant to read this book, mainly due to selfish reasons, but I gave in to temptation.

This book is good, and quite depressing. The main character is just a kid who wants to belong, like most fifteen-year olds. He lives in a nice area of Dublin, Ireland, and is judged because of it. He joins a bad crowd in his neighborhood, because he wants to belong. He has reservations about participating in some of what the guys do, but goes with it for that same reason. He "falls in love", fights with friends, starts acting out in school, and just going through the motions of adolescence.

This book can be quite violent at times, because we are dealing with boys who have to assert their dominance in order to remain with the group. It also contains a lot of Irish slang or words that those of us not native to Ireland wouldn't understand (although I am a fan of Tana French's books, so I am well-acquainted with those words).

This book also contains an interview with Mr. Macken, and some original poetry that he wrote. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a real look into the head of an Irish kid who is feeling out all the changes that puberty brings with it.

[armouredsheep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and easily relatable. Well paced, well written, and quite funny at times despite the generally darkish tone.

I was pleasantly surprised to be honest - I had suspected the positive reviews may be biased, coming mostly from fans of the author’s acting. I too picked up the book mostly because I was a curious fan. But I’m rating it well because it was good, and by the end I didn’t want it to be over - I wanted to spend more time with Sam.

However, there were a few technical flaws that drew me out of the story. At one point the wrong name was used (“Daniel” instead of “Darren” during a bus scene). At one point a meeting was set for 5 o’clock and then suddenly the meeting time was 6 o’clock. This was quite confusing in the context of the story. There were also a few typo sort of errors (5-10 maybe) that weren’t big deals but more plentiful than I’d expect in a published novel. Hopefully these will get fixed in subsequent editions.

Still, overall this is definitely a good book.

I would recommend Kingdom of Scars to anyone who thinks it may interest them. And I’m eager to read the novel that follows in its slipstream. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

[Evaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thoughts on Kingdom of Scars are available on my book blog at BookLikes.

[Eoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this for €3 in a discount store and felt it was worth a read despite knowing nothing about the author. I liked this quite a bit but it can make for uncomfortable reading in the accuracy of it's depiction of teenage bullying in all male schools and environments. The level of sexual exploration and violence are far higher than anything I experienced living in safe, dull, suburbs which made those aspects a little harder for me to relate to but the emotion of both is brilliantly captured.

[Heidi Reinhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

A wonderful coming of age novel that keeps you entertained from the moment you pick it up. The story is engaging; makes you root for the underdog and leaves you feeling satisfied with the ending. I loved every minute of it. Looking forward to Eoin Macken continuing his career as an author.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, I picked this book up because I've been following the author's acting career. I wanted to like this but I just could not finish it. I think it's well written but I couldn't get in to the plot. I think mostly because I couldn't relate to the characters or setting.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful book with a storyline that was deeply personal at the time

[Kim Bergshoeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an easy Read but sadly not really going anywhere. The main character never reecame to life for me and neither did any of the others.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book. It was very easy to get through as the pace, plot and characters kept me wanting more.

[Francesca Rissotto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molto bello, scorrevole ma profondo

[Peb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I did! A very pleasant surprise!

[Whisper19 · Rating 2 out of 5]

from my wordpress blogpost

Ireland, or Érie, is at the top of the list of countries I wish to visit. According to my uncle – the greenest green I’ll ever see.

In the meantime, it’s an island country, just to the left of Great Britain. Its history was marked by its connections to it’s neighbour. I grew up watching the news reports of the unrests at the north of the island (in Northern Ireland) and this sort of surprised me. Not that there is war (I’m from Croatia, so there’s nothing strange about that), but that there’s such unrest in the “west.” Since that time, I got to read up a bit about the country and its history, and now I’m no longer surprised.

The reason why I chose this book is a bit fangirly. You see, some years back I watched Merlin and damn was Sir Gwaine hawt !

Since playing Gawain, Eoin has written two books. I chose the first one, Kingdom of Scars, because of the title.

As I expected, it was a coming of age novel. The main character, Sam, navigates the treacherous teenage waters of friendship, romance, and youthful violence that most of us have had to survive. Sam’s friends are awful, his romantic interests are misguided, and the situations he finds himself in leave him with almost no choice but to join in the violence being committed.

What I liked in this book was the simplicity of the story. There’s nothing pretentious in it, nothing grandiose. Sam is not “the chosen one,” he doesn’t experience an epiphany that makes him a better person, he simply survives.

But this same simplicity is also reflected in the writing. It is a simple story, presented in a simple way. I would have liked a little more of psychological character building. There’s so much room there, with all the characters. Why is Sam such a pushover? Why are his friends jerks, or better yet, why does Sam choose jerks as friends? What is the role of parents in their lives? (these are teenagers, for f’s sake – I should write a rant post about the curious case of independence of teenagers in western literature. Is being a teenager so different in the west as compared to the Balkans?)

But, since this is Eoin’s first novel, perhaps his next one will be better. All in all, I’m not sorry I’ve read this book.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect before starting this novel. I've only known Eoin Macken as an actor in one of my favourite programmes, and I anticipated seeing what his work was like. I didn't expect the sheer rawness of his writing, nor the explicit raunchiness, but given that this is written in the perspective of a rough-and-tough, 15-year-old Irish kid in Dublin, it was appropriate. Once I adjusted to the style (the last thing I'd read was The Hobbit; bit of a gap in style there) I found myself enjoying something that felt almost nostalgic and liberating in its free form. Sam Leahy, in spite of all of his flaws, is a character I grew to love and defend through my reading. It reminded me what it was like to be fresh into highschool and face stupid decisions, bullies,and temptations. As a fan of Mr. Macken, I was pleased with his success; I was also pleased with the end result of, yeah, shit happens, but it gets better.

[Rae Beeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm probably just being a bit biased because I love Eoin Macken (he's one of my favorite human beings), but for a debut novel, it wasn't half bad. The writing is adequate, but lacks confidence. For me, it's the characters that make the story. They are flawed and imperfect and trying to figure out their place in the world -something everyone can relate to - which makes them very, very real. Kingdom of Scars makes a good 'coming-of-age' story that I found myself enjoying. And now, I want to go back to Dublin!!!

[CJ Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to say I loved this book, because I do love Eoin Macken, but that would probably be an exaggeration. I struggled at times to get through it, but that was more me than Macken's writing style which I actually enjoyed. I just had trouble really connecting with Sam and that may be just because I come from a completely different background. While I may not have loved this book, I did enjoy parts of it and am very glad I read it.

For more of my review, check out my blog .

[Hayley Hemming · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was interesting to get into the mind of a teenage boy and to see that their thoughts are not so different from a teenage girl!
Fitting in at school, sex, friendships etc everything is covered in this book.
Its refreshing, its new, it was exciting. I was hooked from the beginning and was instantly transported into the mind of Sam.
Loved it.

Full review to be on my blog soon. I'll post the link once I've done it :)

[Trini M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I really liked about this book is how relatable it is to me as a reader, maybe not so much on the storyline, but mostly on Sam's feeling and attitudes, I've been there, and it is just amazing how Macken manages to capture those crude feeling and experiences that one faces as a teen. It is a great book to read, it is different to all the coming to age novels that I have read previously, this one feels more realistic than the others, more relatable.

[Busra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn about the 3/4 stars so we'll go with this for now. I enjoyed the book in the way it was written, the characters were complex and the plot was great. However, as I am very different from the main character, I didn't get that WOAH feeling that one gets sometimes. Still really liked it, though. I feel like people in the actual target group could really love this book. Plus it's a rather easy read which makes the reading experience even nicer.

[Maru · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't interested in the topic of this book in the slightest, just some stories abt a teenage boy, i care the least about those. But the writing itself was really working for me and the way these stories were delivered made me interested, i wasn't bored for a second while reading the book, so good job Eoin Macken.

[Auji · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by an Irish author! The first few chapters were quite a journey to get through, but I'm glad that this book did not disappoint me.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that my beloved Sir Gwaine can do just about anything, really.