Book: The Sin Eater's Daughter (#1)
Author: Melinda Salisbury
Published: 24th February 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 336
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
I started this knowing there were mixed reviews - some people love it, some people, not so much. I wondered where I would fit in on the scale - having now finished the book, unfortunately I fall more towards the 'not so much' opinion.
The book starts off with such promise, I was really enjoying the intrigue and mythology surrounding Twylla. The sin eating was a really cool concept, which definitely could have been expanded on more in this book. I also like the myth of the sleeping prince, and the gods, and Daunen, and I feel like there was absolutely more potential here for development, rather than the disappointing conclusion with regards to the story arc concerning Daunen.
Another, honestly, frustrating element were the characters. My favourite was the queen, even though she became more pantomime-villain esque as the story went on. I wanted more in terms of her motivations and her inner thoughts, as opposed to her being reduced to a character the audience could 'boo' at every so often.
The main female lead, Twylla, was intriguing at the start, and a little naive, but as the story progresses her character only serves to be a cliche, with many events befalling her, which result in increasingly idiotic actions on her part. There is a love triangle in this book, and whereas normally the female lead must choose between two attractive males, NONE of Twylla's choices are appealing.
The Prince, Merek, is so wooden and stagnant he is reminiscent of a cardboard-cut-out. He could literally be called 'generic prince'. There is very little character building here, not to mention that his name alone is lacking distinction. His name is very similar to Prince's from other franchies - think: Maven from Red Queen, Maxen from The Selection, and Merik from Truthwitch.
Whereas Merek is just plain boring, Leif is akin to the village idiot. He has barely any brains, he's aloof, and absolutely not cut out for any serving or attending work. I found myself wondering throughout the whole book why ~oh why~ has he been hired?? Surely the Queen has better judgement? And finally, in the end, we are enlightened as to this fact, and everything finally falls into place. Although, the reveal is not satisfying, nor is it clever.
Whereas this could have succeeded as a book about mythology, religion, and morals, it instead becomes a book of utterly cliche characters, boring tropes and dull love interests. So it's really no wonder Twylla was doomed from the start.
I have, however, heard that the sequel is much improved, but I can't quite bring myself to delve again into the depths of this questionably constructed literary universe.
The book starts off with such promise, I was really enjoying the intrigue and mythology surrounding Twylla. The sin eating was a really cool concept, which definitely could have been expanded on more in this book. I also like the myth of the sleeping prince, and the gods, and Daunen, and I feel like there was absolutely more potential here for development, rather than the disappointing conclusion with regards to the story arc concerning Daunen.
Another, honestly, frustrating element were the characters. My favourite was the queen, even though she became more pantomime-villain esque as the story went on. I wanted more in terms of her motivations and her inner thoughts, as opposed to her being reduced to a character the audience could 'boo' at every so often.
The main female lead, Twylla, was intriguing at the start, and a little naive, but as the story progresses her character only serves to be a cliche, with many events befalling her, which result in increasingly idiotic actions on her part. There is a love triangle in this book, and whereas normally the female lead must choose between two attractive males, NONE of Twylla's choices are appealing.
The Prince, Merek, is so wooden and stagnant he is reminiscent of a cardboard-cut-out. He could literally be called 'generic prince'. There is very little character building here, not to mention that his name alone is lacking distinction. His name is very similar to Prince's from other franchies - think: Maven from Red Queen, Maxen from The Selection, and Merik from Truthwitch.
Whereas Merek is just plain boring, Leif is akin to the village idiot. He has barely any brains, he's aloof, and absolutely not cut out for any serving or attending work. I found myself wondering throughout the whole book why ~oh why~ has he been hired?? Surely the Queen has better judgement? And finally, in the end, we are enlightened as to this fact, and everything finally falls into place. Although, the reveal is not satisfying, nor is it clever.
Whereas this could have succeeded as a book about mythology, religion, and morals, it instead becomes a book of utterly cliche characters, boring tropes and dull love interests. So it's really no wonder Twylla was doomed from the start.
I have, however, heard that the sequel is much improved, but I can't quite bring myself to delve again into the depths of this questionably constructed literary universe.
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