Book Review: The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater’s Daughter #1) by Melinda Salisbury

Title: The Sin Eater's Daughter (The Sin Eater’s Daughter #1)
Author: Melinda Salisbury
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Pages: 312
Format: Hardcover
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy

       

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?

There was so much hype around this March 2015 debut that I just had to check it out. I fell in love with the cover of the book after seeing it firsthand in the bookstore. The synopsis intrigued me, and after reading the first sentence, “Even when there are no prisoners, I can still hear the screams”, I was sold! The book was an easy read and able to hold my interest enough to make it through the first half of the book, which was exceedingly slow paced. All of the action and drama took place during the second half of the book. I don't especially enjoy books when the author saves everything for the end. However, having said that, I think the last half of the book was pretty fantastic.

Twylla is, in my opinion, a weak character. There is never a moment in the book where she stands up for, or defends herself. She has great power that she never wields because she cannot see it. I kept hoping that she would grow as a character, and take control of her destiny.

The queen is the character in this book that you love to hate. Melinda Salisbury did a phenomenal job painting the queen as an evil villain. I formed a very deep rooted hatred for her from the start. Hence why I wanted Twylla to be kick ass.

This book needed a map. There was a section in the beginning where several different kingdoms and landforms were discussed, and I really couldn't get an image in my head from the author’s writing. A map would've helped me better understand the lay of the land, especially since locations play a very important role in some of the plot points.

This book is the first in a series, though with the way the book ends, it could be a standalone, even though there are loose ends. Despite the fact that this book was fairly predictable, there were some plot twists that I did not see coming. I will be picking up the next book in the series because I want to see how one of the plot points plays out.