The Sin Eater's Daughter

If it weren't for the really wonderful narration, I doubt I'd have finished this one. There are really two main problems I had with the story. One is that the main character never really does anything. She just gets buffered about by whoever happens to be closest at the moment. The other problem is that every time the author introduced a really awesome concept to the world, she would later on downplay or negate it. I do not read a fantasy novel to find out magic isn't real. Really, I already knew that.

2 stars for the story.
5 stars for the narration.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Rounded up because the world-building is intriguing and the mythology is lovely. Some of my friends have been saying that the heroine, Twylla, is rather passive and dumb, but I have to disagree. If anything, I found Twylla very realistic. She's not saintly kind or nice. She makes terrible decisions which she'd only regret later, but she admits her mistakes and her reactions—in my opinion—is very natural considering the situation she's in.

The summary only covers about half of the story. In the second half of the book, the scope broadens to reveal many plot twists hidden beneath Twylla's days as an executioner. Some of them I saw coming (like Lief's real objective), but some of the revelations really surprised me. The romance is lovely—in a twisted way. Both love interests are broken in their own ways, and I'm really curious about the direction they're going at the end of the book.

For those wondering if this story is like Shatter Me—no, it's not. Not at all. The Sin Eater's Daughter is intense, with thick political tension and a slightly religious tone. The elements of the story are beautifully woven together, and the writing style is so easy to follow that I read most of the book in one sitting. It's fascinating. I'm definitely looking forward to the next volume and Melinda Salisbury's future works.

Here is the deal. I enjoyed the book, but, there were a couple of very stereotypical YA things that kind of get annoying after a while.

Twylla is SUUUUUUUUUUUPER annoying, she has almost no character development in the whole book. She is extremely immature, and she has almost no interaction with people, so a lot of the time she doesnt know how to act. She thinks herself in love after seeing collar bones. FREAKING COLLAR BONES. WTH people.

I like Merek, although, I dont think we know everything about him yet. And Leif, the other love triangle, GAG, is just blegh. I didnt care for him at all. And there were so many times when I was simply shocked that Twylla and Leif werent caught by other people. Like, yall are being stupid.

“My mother is a fat woman” was probably my favorite sentence, I laughed pretty hard at that. Just straight to the point, because her mother was the Sin Eater of Lormere. She is dedicated to the job, and always eats the whole feast, which is why she is heavy. Twylla was to be the next Sin Eater, but the Queen found her and discovered her immunity to poison and that she was touched by the gods so she is Daunen Embodied. Daunen Embodied is the Queens personal executioner of traitors to the crown, or so it seems.

Solid 3.5 stars, damn you GR for not letting me pick half stars.

I'd thought the price I paid for my new life at the castle was that I could never touch anyone, because the poison I took willingly stayed in my skin and would kill anyone who came into contact with it, save for those also blessed by divine right: the queen, the king, the prince.

I don't think I every truly understood what ‘hot mess' meant before reading this book.

I can't write a review for this book. I've tried three times and every single time it quickly turns into three pages of grumbling, ranting and gripes. (Yes, there are more issues I had with the book than just these, but by about 2/3 the way through, I quit making note of my problems.)

Some Issues I Had With The Book:

Doormat of a main character. Twylla never makes a decision on her own and merely follows the path of least resistance.

Twylla's ability to kill with a touch is because she drinks a poison she's immune to but that pours out through her pores and kills on contact. Supposedly.

Twylla's weak willed and has no personality beyond ‘I want to sing.'

Twylla has no excuse for being such a doormat, besides the ‘bury my head in the sand' mentality.

The writing style aggravates me. (First person, present tense.)

The world building doesn't make sense. (Twylla can kill with a touch but no one ever thought of gloves?)

She can supposedly touch the royal family because they are blessed with divine right - yet the royal family never takes advantage of this to advance their ‘godlyness' with the people.

The attack dogs ate one of the previous queens after her death but they still kept the dogs around.

Twylla being ‘the Sin Eater's Daughter' has no bearing on anything that happens in this story.

She has killed thirteen people and yet she is emotionally and mentally unscarred.

A guy wants to prove that Twylla's touch won't kill him, so he kisses her. Instead of, you know, touching her hand.

“Marry me instead. We can run away.” Is this supposed to be romantic?

It's a romance story marketed as a fantasy.

I'm not going to go into my religious beliefs, but I do want to say that I found the religion in this book offensive.

There was several sexist moments in this story, including willing to execute a woman for getting pregnant but not the father of the child. (Because I am so sure she got pregnant on her own.)

The only thing that can sever Twylla's role as Daunen Embodied is marriage to the prince. Because then she will no longer be pure enough.

Looks around

Sorry, there for a moment I thought women no longer had to worry about losing their virginity and losing their special magic karma at the same time. (What are we doing, going through another sexual repression?) (My dear, you're only special if you're a virgin.)

And on that note, goodnight folks.

“All we can do is stay quiet and do our best. We must be ghosts. That's how you stay alive in this castle. You become a ghost. You keep your head down and you stay out of her way as much as you can.”

Find more of my reviews here: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/