'The Sin Eater's Daughter' by Melinda Salisbury

Amazon / Goodreads

I am the perfect weapon.
I kill with a single touch.

Twylla is blessed. The Gods have chosen her to marry a prince, and rule the kingdom. But the favour of the Gods has it's price. A deadly poison infuses her skin. Those who anger the queen must die under Twylla's fatal touch.

Only Lief, an outspoken new guard, can see past Twylla's chilling role to the girls she truly is.

Yet in a court as dangerous and the queen's, some truths should not be told...

I know that people will love this book. I know that. But I didn't like it. I apologize.

I also mention a few other books in this review. 'Shatter Me' and 'The Lunar Chronicles'. 

First. About the premise.

A girl who kills with one touch. The perfect weapon.

Remind you of anyone? Hm? 

Juliette, maybe? (Or however you spell her name...) A guard who protects her? (Adam?) 

This premise isn't exactly the same. But it is similar. You can see the similarities if you look closely.

I did only after I reached the halfway point. And I realized how similar this is to 'Shatter Me'. Hm... 

I didn't like Twylla. Why? She should be a character I like. But she is whiny. Just a little bit. I can see her appeal, though. She hasn't been able to touch anyone since she was placed in the spotlight. She is like our favorite Juliet/Juliette. But different. She grew up in a home. With a sister. She was trained to be a Sin Eater but never got to that lifestyle. Why do I say she's whiny? She keeps bemoaning her life. I agree with what she said about being selfish. And I know I have no right to judge. But she does seem quite selfish to me. She didn't care to check in on Meryl/however-you-spell-her-name. She didn't fight her situation. I can't see why anyone would fight. But she lost her old life. And was forced to 'kill' people! I think it's the latter that affects me the most. She didn't rebel. Or try to. Which seems so...wrong. I do like her spirit, though. That's after Lief awakens this vicious monster. Man. She really grows in that short time. A burst of sudden development! Which is interesting. Not good or bad. Interesting.  

But that doesn't mean I don't like Merek. He's such a sweet guy. He's kind and caring. A bit on the creepy side. I mean...dude. You don't chase after a girl for that long. You go get her! You woo her. Or try to... Merek is a good guy. Truly. He'll be a great king. He's kind and fair. Open-minded. Caring. A good king has those qualities. But he didn't chase after Twylla. Even though he claimed he cared for her. He puts a surprising amount of trust in Twylla. I'm not entirely sure if Twylla deserves all this trust... 

But that doesn't mean I like Lief. Lief is kind of annoying. He dupes enough people. And he's evasive. He doesn't always answer questions. Even if he tries to be honest and truthful. I don't like who Lief is. And even if he seems carefree, he's thinking about how to fund his family. I can understand that family does a lot to a person. I can get that. But still! Why does he seem to always be coming back to Twylla even though she tells him to go? That seems desperate in a way. If that makes any sense. 

I am eternally fascinated about the queen. This does not mean I like her. Why did she want to do that? Why does she do what she does? What makes her that way? I want maybe a short story or something about the queen. Like what we Lunartics (Is that the official name?) got for Levana. There is a reason for someone's cruel methods in life. There are always reasons. I just never got the queen's reasons. 

(Also...how do you spell her name?)

I'd like to know about the world a bit more. How does Sin Eating work? Why is it there? What is its origins? What do you Eat first? How do you know what to Eat first? Is Twylla's mother the only Sin Eater? There are these questions surrounding this...and I got nothing. The book is 'The Sin Eater's Daughter', for goodness sake! Shouldn't we get something more than the crow and Eating the lesser sins first? 

I also want a peek into the world of Tregelli. (Okay. The spelling is driving me bonkers now.) How is it? I know it has science and alchemy. But how does it look? Where is it located? I want a map to show me. I want something more concrete than vague details. 

The plot is okay... It was dramatic at the end. Very...climatic. It brings up this drama. The queen yelling. Denial. Trials. It's a jumbled-up mess. I honestly don't know what to think of it. We had plot twists thrown at us like nothing to it. Without the plot twist with Lief, we could have had a happy ending! (Which translates directly to no sequel.) But we got that plot twist. And we got more confusing plot twists. Oh this happened because of the queen! This too! And this! I'm not saying I feel compassion for her or anything. Just that it seems like the main characters, the three sides of the love triangle, decided to all blame everything on the queen. (Except the mentioned plot twist on Lief's part. I'm still reeling about it...) 

The beginning is kind of dull, though. Where the ending is dramatic, the beginning is slow. The beginning starts off slow. We don't have much happening. This is okay, though. That's how beginnings are in books. Slower and showing more of the normal. (At least, that's how I was taught things.) Which I accept. But this book kept up its slow ways for a bit more than I asked for. 

The romance...oh my. That's the first thing I think of. Why? Because of the love triangle. It's complicated. Twylla has to show feelings for both guys. In a way. And she cares for both. I've seen this time and time again. 

What is interesting is that she also thinks of the best for the kingdom. 

And the sex scenes. Please. We all know they got it on and did it. (I'm trying to keep this PG. Or as PG as sex can be.) Can I mention how much I hate when books bring up sex? I mean...I know people do it. That's plain to see. But still! This is a teen book. Young adult. We don't need sex scenes in every book!

I also find it interesting that she didn't end up choosing Merek. I mean...you said he wanted a queen. He wanted you specifically. So why not go with riches, Twylla? I'm still lost to why she didn't accept. She could have been pardoned. The star child yet again. But she didn't. (Spoiler.) She went to go the recluse route. 

The ending... I can tell people will rage about the ending. Truly rage. 

I get it. I raged too. Even if I didn't adore this book, I still got into it.

Wow. That's such a surprising ending. Twylla's choice was one thing. Then the trial. Then Lief's secret. Man. That was a roller coaster. I'm not sure what to think. I don't like the ending, though. So much drama. There seemed like too much. Really. 

I can't give this a one star... Even if I disliked many things, I still liked certain things. But it just wasn't made for me. I just didn't care too much for the book. The characters. The romance. The plot. It just didn't work for me. 

Weather:

Sunny with a 20% chance of rain

2/5