The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater's Daughter, #1)

by Melinda Salisbury

Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, Twylla isn't exactly a member of the court.

She's the executioner.

As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla's fatal touch, avoids her company.

But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he's able to look past Twylla's executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla's been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen.

However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favour of a doomed love?

• ISBN13: 9781407147635
• Publish Date: 5 February 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Scholastic
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I’ll admit that I’ve been intrigued with The Sin Eater’s Daughter since the cover first start floating around a couple years ago. I read some mixed reviews and held off on obtaining a copy. Luckily enough SYNC offered it this past summer and I actually remembered to download it before the week was out.

I was mesmerized by The Sin Eater’s Daughter. The narration, the world and the religious beliefs of the world had me entranced. I wanted to know more about this sin eating business. I wanted to see it action. Basically, I wanted to hear more about food and how it represented different sins. I was fascinated by the story of the soured cream.

Outside of the world building elements in The Sin Eater’s Daughter, the story was fairly predictable. A special snowflake stuck in a love triangle that leads to a revolution. But the world that the characters existed in and the connection to a creepy fairy tale kept me listening until the book was finished.

I’m not entirely certain I will continue with the series. The book had a satisfying ending and I don’t necessarily feel the need to read at the other books. However, if I found the other books in series with a good deal attached I might consider returning to Lormere.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[Angie]

Of course, my first 5★ of this year would be the reread of my favorite book from last year.

[Amber]

This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

I've decided that Fridays are going to be my negative review day. Why? Because why not. I kind of need motivation to review the books that I don't want to gush about, whether it's because they're dull as hell, or actually just painful. And The Sin Eater's Daughter gets the honour of going first because it was truly, truly tragic.

The Sin Eater's Daughter is certainly readable, don't get me wrong. But that doesn't mean that the non-existent plot and the awful romance were okay with me. Because they weren't. It was terrible.

So, the plot. I'm not entirely sure what the plot was meant to be. I think this is another case of an author having an idea for a story that'll fit nicely into one book, and then somewhere along the way deciding it'll be great as a series. Except there wasn't enough substance or action or anything, which made me feel like I had just wasted a good couple of hours of my life.

The main character, Twylla, wasn't at all intriguing. She's not one of those protagonists that stands out or one who is going to stand the test of time like Hermione or Katniss or Viola. She had little personality, and most of her thoughts revolved around the guy. Yay.

The romance was terrible. I felt like stabbing myself in the eye half the time because the author tried to force chemistry but there was just nothing there. And half the time it came across as controlling, which I did not like at all.

So no, I didn't like the book. Am I going to read the sequel? Yes. Probably. Like I said, the book was readable, and I was given the second book to review so I might as well read it when I'm in the mood to read something awful. Because those things happen to me sometimes.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 stars

I immensely enjoyed this story. It's intriguing, and filled with lore and a bunch of characters with hidden agendas, that are in it for the long con. Twylla is sort of the victim, in that she is the major player in the queen's evil plot. She is so honest in her feelings, that you cannot help but care about her -- all her losses and sacrifices, and the image of herself that was implanted in her head so unjustly. She is deceived and misled too many times, but seriously, the reveal at the end, left me gasping.

I was all over the romantic bits. Lief, Merrick, this girl should be swooning left and right. It's quite the love triangle. I loved the little sparks between Merrick and Twylla when they first see each other again, and then when he takes her to the portrait gallery. -- sigh -- (I am sort of team Merrick - hate me)

If the cover and the name did not convince you, I will tell you that this book is pretty dark. Lots of deception, murder, blood, and whatnot. I loved it! The world of TSED was quite twisted, but I still wanted to know more and more as the story played out.

I really enjoyed being in this world and seeing the whole story unfold.

[Nessa Luna]

Back in November last year, I bought a book called The Sin Eater's Daughter because the summary interested me and that cover looked beautiful. I picked it up a while back, but decided to put it down again because I was in a bit of a reading slump. When the SYNC audiobook season started, I noticed that this book was one of the audiobooks available. So when it was available for download, I decided to immediately do that and started it while working the next day.

The Sin Eater's Daughter tells the story of Twylla, who has been blessed by the gods. Unfortunately, that also brings a downside, as she can never be touched by anyone, save for the queen, the king, and the prince. She is also the official executioner of the court, something she hates terribly. Then, a new guard is assigned to her, and he's the only one who doesn't look at her as if she's a murderer, the only one who sees her as Twylla, not as Daunen embodied.

The first thing I noticed, was that the narrator had a nice, Irish accent. It wasn't too obvious at first, but later on I started hearing the words pronounced in the typical Irish way (words such as 'thought' and others that started or ended with 'th', Irish people pronounce it differently, which is something I personally like). I looked up the narrator, Amy Shiels, who is going to play a role in the upcoming TV series Twin Peaks.

The story itself was really interesting, and I enjoyed listening to it very much. I have to admit that when I first read it it reminded me of Shatter Me a bit, but other than the fact that both Juliette and Twylla can't touch anyone, there weren't really any similarities between these two. What I would have loved, though, was a map of the world. I wasn't really able to imagine the world that well, because there was no map in this book (I do have the physical copy, like I said, so sometimes I could read along with the story).

I loved the story behind Daunen emobodied, about Daeg and Naet (I had trouble picturing these names, so that's where the physical book came in handy) and how Naet (who I guess was the goddess of the night and death and everything dark) seduces her husband Daeg (day, life, light and such). It reminded me of Gaia and Ouranos from the Greek mythology. Personally I would have loved to read more about these gods rather than the actual story, but that's the mythology nerd in me. The only thing I am still rather confused about is the whole Sin Eating ritual. Why is there only one Sin Eater? Who - if not the Gods, because I believe it was established in this book that the while Daunen embodied thing was faked, why not the Sin Eating part? - who thought of this whole Sin Eating? And why? Idk I'm still a bit confused about this whole thing

Romantic wise, I wasn't really 100% behind it to be honest. I found it rather predictable and of course there was a slight hint towards a possible love triangle and that just made me a bit 'meh' over the whole thing. I mean I knew Leif was going to be the love interest rather quickly, maybe not right when he arrived, but later on in the story. I also wasn't a fan of how they said 'I love you' that quickly and how they slept with each other after a couple of months already. But hey that's just me.

The story ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, and I was prepared to pick up the second book almost immediately, but when I read the summary for that one, I realised that it was going to feature a completely different main character? Book two, The Sleeping Prince, will be, from what I understand, from the point of view of Leif's sister, Errin. Now I hope that the characters from book one will make (big) appearances as well (and I don't hope it'll be a multiple POV story *finger crossed*) otherwise I don't really know how to feel about this book.

Anyway, I enjoyed The Sin Eater's Daughter very much, I will pick up the second book and hope the characters I know so well now will make an appearance. I might only pick up the book for its beautiful cover, because did you look at it? It's beautiful right?! If you love fantasy books with a pinch of mythology and fairytale thrown in, you should definitely pick up this book!

My opinion on this book in one gif: 

[Kelsenator]

2.5/5

Kind of really let me down, not what I was hoping it would be. I enjoyed parts of it but after we learn something it lost a lot of my interest and just became another romance where they fought to be together while not actually doing much.

[Kelly]

The cover is pretty, but not worth my sanity or the risk of being lulled into a coma. It's dull with a side of boring. Not for me.

[shannonmiz]

I was captivated by Twylla's story from page one. There was a lot going on from the start as we learn Twylla's role in her kingdom of Lormere. Short version: Twylla wasn't born into royalty, but to the current Sin Eater (this is a real thing, I looked it up-here- but the book is extremely accurate about it) and was training to be the next Sin Eater. The Queen brought her to the castle for two purposes: As Daunen Embodied (which basically amounted to her being the Queen's personal executioner, via her touch), and to marry the Queen's son, Prince Merek. Since Twylla's touch means excruciating death to anyone not in the royal family, she leads a very solitary existence. Twylla is assigned two guards at all times, not only to ensure her safety, but the safety of those around here. Suffice it to say, Twylla has basically no idea what's going on in the castle or the kingdom, save what she sees or hears from her guards.

Twylla was pretty much a giant mess when she is introduced. She knows that she kills people on the regular, including the only person she'd ever considered a friend. She isn't the "typical" heroine who is up for battles and revolutions. She's scared, and she's lonely, and she's just trying to make it through the day like anyone else. Her character evolves quite a bit during the course of the book, but she is still finding herself, and I am quite certain that we've only seen the beginning of Twylla's transformation. In this book, she's learning, for the first time, who she is, outside of being her mother's daughter, outside of being Daunen Embodied. It is magical to watch, and impossible not to cheer for. She is imperfect, and realistic, and I adored her.

As for the other characters, I found them to be extremely well rounded and realistic. No one was completely good, and even the evilest of villains had a good moment or two. I felt connected to pretty much every character, from Twylla down to the random maid, each character was so fleshed out that it was easy to form attachments.

What I found most amazing about The Sin Eater's Daughter is that absolutely nothing was exactly what it seemed. I thought I knew, I thought I'd figured out where things were headed, but really I had no idea. The twists and turns of not only the plot, but the characters too, had me on the edge of my seat through the entire book. By the end, I didn't even try to guess anymore, because I had no idea what I was in store for next.

That said, this book wasn't all action. While the plot was really great, there was a significant emphasis on the characters. That doesn't mean that the book moved slowly, on the contrary! It moved at the perfect pace for me, with lots of plot driven scenes, but even more time delving into the characters, all while keeping me highly entertained (and full of emotions).

There's romance. I don't think it is even possible to explain without spoiling stuff. Are there two men involved? Yes. Is it a love triangle? No, not in the usual sense. The romance was captivating, and heartbreaking and... I'm going to just stop.

Bottom Line: I need the second book like I need air. This was everything I'd hoped it would be, and much, much more. Twylla is relatable on so many levels, there's such a wealth of amazing characters, and the plot just does not stop twisting and shocking. I was emotionally destroyed, but hopeful by the end, and I will pretty much be recommending this book to anyone I come in contact with for a very long time.
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight

[Ashley]

* MASSIVE amounts of info dumping. The entire history of the land, the characters, and the politics was just dumped in the first 20% without any real plot. It was like a history book.

* I was disconnected from every single character.

* The whole narrative felt detached and lacking emotion.

* I didn’t enjoy the romance. It felt like insta-love. Then there was ALSO a love triangle.

* NOTHING excited me or made me giddy/nervous. Overall I just felt nothing about this whole book, the plot, and its characters.

* The ending was a bit weird, anti-climactic, and a let down.

I'm SO disappointed because I thought I would love this book so much. The cover and synopsis both excited the hell out of me. But then the book did nothing for me. :(