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The Sin Eater cover art

The Sin Eater

By: Megan Campisi
Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio
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Summary

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 . . .

An old adage says there are really only two stories: a man goes on a voyage, and a stranger arrives in town. This is the third: a woman breaks the rules . . .

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?

©2020 Simon & Schuster (P)2020 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

A dark and thrilling page-turner that turns a dystopian eye on the past in an unnervingly contemporary way. All hail Megan Campisi (Emma Donoghue, author of Room and The Wonder)

Rich with imaginative and historical details, The Sin Eater is ultimately a timeless story of one woman regaining her power. I loved it from beginning to end (Christina Dalcher, author of Vox)

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Disappointing

I read a lot of historical fiction and a lot of more fantasy based stuff, like the Binding. And I was really looking forward to this book as I'd seen several good reviews in the papers. However it read like fairly average YA fiction.

The plot twists are signalled far in advance. so much so that I skipped the last third of the book and had no difficulty catching up in the last chapter. It's episodic, has few believable characters and the plundering of tudor history for backstory is shallow. Instead of feeling like a joyful reworking of history to a half imagined version, it felt like a lazy rewrite by an author who assumed the reader wouldn't know any better. This might be true for a YA audience, not so for those looking for a more literary read. Deeply disappointing.

The best thing here is the cover. Possibly the writer will mature and later books will be better, i hope so as there's definitely something here, but as yet, it's derivative and dull. Suggest you read the Binding ahead of this

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bleak but compelling

I am usually not a great fan of bleak stories, but after a while the main charactee's prediciment starts to feel more like something she made peace with. The character development is great. I had to get used to the thick accent at first but half way through I had trouble turning it off and just wanted to keep going.

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