Book Review - The Sin Eater’s Daughter

The Sin Eater’s Daughter
Author: Melinda Salisbury
Series: The Sin Eater’s Daughter #1
Genres: Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: February 24th 2015
Publishers: Scholastic Press
No. Pages: 336
Source: Review Copy - Scholastic Press
Rating:
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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 favor of a doomed love?

When it comes to anticipated books of 2015, The Sin Eaters Daughter is not only high on my list but others too, but the question is why?. The one thing I hear a lot of people talking about when they notice the book is the cover, I mean come on, how amazing is it? it's one of those you would have no problem putting in a frame and placing on your wall (or is that just me haha) cover aside though everyone seems to be interested in the summary and it's not hard to see why. From the first glance it instantly gives an air of Graceling, Shatter Me and Throne of Glass. Though I'll admit that at first it really did remind me of Throne of Glass, as the story went on however that feeling waned.

Reading the book was some what of an up and down ride for me. I went from being completely transfixed from the start, to being less entertained in the middle, only to be on the edge of my seat by the end again. Reading some of the reviews and seeing the ratings on goodreads its easy to see that I wasn't the only one that had a few problems with the story and found it to be lacking in places.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the book and the only thing I can't find fault with is Twylla's gift, it's what caught my eye from the very beginning. Though it's called a gift, its more of a curse as Twyall's touch comes with a price, deep within the pours of her skin is a poison that kills anyone at the slightest bit of skin to skin contact and the Queen of Lormere uses her to kill the traitors. This concept of the poison was genius in my eyes and yes, Tywlla could remind you of Juliette from the Shatter Me series but the big difference between the two is being born with the power like Juliette and having to consume a poison every month like Tywall, both ideas very brilliant but different all the same.

When it comes to the characters in the story I found myself facing an up and down battle yet again. We have Tywall, a very lonely girl that has to give up everything she loved, all her hopes and dreams for destiny. The only person she found herself getting close to since living in the palace turned out to be a traitor and she was forced to execute him. Her guards come an go, she's engaged to the prince but doesn't spend any time with him and everyone seems to be scared of her. At first I found her a compelling character and was drawn to her, however I feel that when she met her new guard Lief, her character seems to take a dip. I'm not exactly sure why. As far as Lief goes, he was a good character but I didn't find myself... swoony over him shall we say and considering he's the main love interest in it I felt like I was missing out somehow.

Like I mentioned at the start, this book was a rollercaster ride. It had a brilliant concept, interesting character and an amazing cover. But sadly to me it lacked in character development at times and though the world building was faultless I would have liked to have read more about the world outside of the castle, but given the fact that Tywall was a prisoner of sorts I don't hold that against the author. I did however like how much back story there was, and how every now and again you would have flashbacks to her live before she found out she was destined for more, it gave a a life to her mother and sister so that was nice to see.

For all the faults I may or may not have found I really did enjoy this book. The love may have happened a bit too quick for my liking but I found it cute all the same. I may have wanted a little bit more from the story but was bless with twists that I didn't expect or see coming. (I'm not trying to brag, but I'm pretty good when it comes to that sort of thing haha). The book may not have been as good as I thought it was going to be but in some ways it was. I can't wait for the next book.