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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
🌶 Spice Level 1/5
It was gripping. I truly worried for the characters. Very sad, especially knowing it’s based on real events. Horrifying.
Of course, I don’t like when religion, especially the three major ones ate shown in a negative light. Islam especially, but even with Christianity, I dislike it. Because I know that in any religion, there are bad people. And they’re not bad because of the religion, but because they’re foolish and have darkness in their hearts.
They don’t understand the true essence of faith and use it however they want.
But since this story is based on real events, I didn’t feel resentment. On the contrary, I’m glad I got to learn about what happened to these girls, and how horribly unfair it was.
When Nora managed to escape… and when she later agreed to intimacy just so they wouldn’t send her back—that absolutely crushed me. I didn’t even want to keep reading. Not because it was boring or badly written, but because it was just so painful. I felt so sorry for her.
And Leah... poor Leah. Such a sweet soul.
And Nora’s baby… It’s devastating to imagine living with the belief that you’re the reason your child died .
The book really made me think. About the power the church had. About how the whole society blindly followed it. And how can anyone live like that? Everyone makes mistakes—including people in the church. So how can anyone trust them 100%? Terrifying.
Still, the book was incredibly well written. Easy to read. Never boring. No excessive descriptions—everything had purpose. A lot happened, and I’ll definitely remember this story.
It was gripping. I truly worried for the characters. Very sad, especially knowing it’s based on real events. Horrifying.
Of course, I don’t like when religion, especially the three major ones ate shown in a negative light. Islam especially, but even with Christianity, I dislike it. Because I know that in any religion, there are bad people. And they’re not bad because of the religion, but because they’re foolish and have darkness in their hearts.
They don’t understand the true essence of faith and use it however they want.
But since this story is based on real events, I didn’t feel resentment. On the contrary, I’m glad I got to learn about what happened to these girls, and how horribly unfair it was.
And Leah... poor Leah. Such a sweet soul.
And Nora’s baby… It’s devastating to imagine living with the belief that you’re the reason your child died
The book really made me think. About the power the church had. About how the whole society blindly followed it. And how can anyone live like that? Everyone makes mistakes—including people in the church. So how can anyone trust them 100%? Terrifying.
Still, the book was incredibly well written. Easy to read. Never boring. No excessive descriptions—everything had purpose. A lot happened, and I’ll definitely remember this story.
I hadn't ever heard about the Magdalen girls but after reading this book I checked out some historical info about it all and it's just insane to me that this happened! That the nuns claim to be doing what God would want but its psychological and physical abuse- I felt awful for the girls throughout the book and it was interesting to see how they ended up giving in toward the end of the book which I think is like Stockholm syndrome in a way. The only things I didn't like is that it seemed like the book didn't want to make the nuns completely evil and occasionally it seemed they had hearts but I wasn't sure if they were just bipolar or truly felt bad sometimes- I wondered if all of them got there for the same reasons as the girls and then became nuns- also I wished the ending would have included more
Fascinating part of history I didn’t know about. Beautifully told. Couldn’t put it down.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I rate simply: 5 = liked it, 3 = meh, and 1 = didn't like it.
dark
sad
fast-paced
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I would give a five rating but for a couple of plot threads left hanging.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
challenging
dark
medium-paced