The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

The Sin Eater

by Megan Campisi

Set in a thinly disguised sixteenth-century England, Megan Campisi's The Sin Eater is a wonderfully rich story of treason and treachery; of women, of power, and the strange freedom that comes from being an outcast – because, sometimes, being a nobody sometimes counts for everything . . .

'A dark and thrilling page-turner that turns a dystopian eye on the past in an unnervingly contemporary way' - Emma Donoghue, author of Room.

A Sin Eater’s duty is a necessary evil: she hears the confessions of the dying, eats their sins as a funeral rite. Stained by these sins, she is shunned and silenced, doomed to live in exile at the edge of town.

Recently orphaned May Owens is just fourteen, only concerned with where her next meal is coming from. When she’s arrested for stealing a loaf of bread, however, and subsequently sentenced to become a Sin Eater, finding food is suddenly the last of her worries.

It’s a devastating sentence, but May’s new invisibility opens new doors. And when first one then two of the Queen’s courtiers suddenly grow ill, May hears their deathbed confessions – and begins to investigate a terrible rumour that is only whispered of amid palace corridors . . .

Can you uncover the truth when you’re forbidden from speaking it?

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

4 of 5 stars

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It's time to enter a historical fiction like no other in Megan Campisi's Sin Eater. I picked this book up because it promised to be a blend of The Handmaid's Tale and Alice in Wonderland. Let me tell you – it did not disappoint.

May received a life sentence on the day she stole bread. Now, she must forever be a Sin Eater – somebody who listens to the confessions of the dying and takes on their sins so that they may find peace.

May had already been alone before becoming a Sin Eater, but now she is more isolated than ever. Even her mentor, another Sin Eater, cannot speak to her. Yet May won't hesitate to find the truth – and vengeance -for an act that cost her mentor her life.

“With how you came into the world and what you've seen lately you should know, the more you live, the more the sinner and the saint can't be pulled apart. All of us just getting by.”

If you're looking to put up a book that packs quite the punch, then it is time to read Sin Eater. Megan Campisi does not shy away from the darker sides of humanity, and it is blindingly clear in this novel.

In truth, having finished Sin Eater, I can now see why comparisons were made to The Handmaid's Tale and Alice in Wonderland. While Sin Eater is very much its own being, the tones are strikingly similar. Both the horrifying and the fantastical.

What's so impressive about Sin Eater is the sheer amount of inequalities that Campisi tackles here. Classicism and sexism are brought to light here, as are other societal differences until they become nearly suffocating. As I'm sure was the intent.

I really respect the story that Megan Campisi was trying to convey here, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Thanks to Atria Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 3 September, 2021: Finished reading
  • 3 September, 2021: Reviewed