Item: The Sin Eater
Rating: 4.00
Author: elysium

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?

The book is set in a fictional sort of Elizabethan England kinda world. I mean the queen is called Bethany and her predecessor Maris, a new religion has replaced the old one. You get the idea. I think I spent too much time thinking who this court lady is supposed to be in real life… The set up was interesting but weird. I had not heard of Sin Eaters before so I had to do some googling and apparently, the role existed but very little is known about it.

The story is told by May’s point of view as she tries to adjust to her new life as a Sin Eater and being shunned by everyone. And it’s such a dark and lonely life when you’re not allowed to even speak. Basically, all you do is hear people reciting their sins before they die and then you eat the food that symbolizes the confessed sins. And there’s court intrigue where May gets involved and needs to uncover.

It was a well-written and imaginative story. May was a likeable character who was determined to uncover the mystery. Since she can’t talk and doesn’t know how to read, she has to learn all by herself which was interesting. I didn’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. And that’s in a good way.

What a great debut! I really enjoyed the book and I’m looking forward to reading more from the author. And I think the cover is cool.

The Sin Eater

by Megan Campisi

Reviewed by elysium on Apr 8, 2020

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