First things first: I received this book through NetGalley.

German and english review

Es ist das zweite Buch in der The Sin Eate's Daughter Trilogie, also wird es einige Spoiler geben, außerdem kann ich mich nicht zurück halten und muss einige Dinge direkt aussprechen die in dem Buch passiert sind. Weiterlesen auf eigene Gefahr.

Inhalt: Das Land ist in Aufruhr. Die Königin hat eine alte Legende entfesselt und den gefährlichen Schlafenden Prinzen nach vielen Jahrhunderten wieder zum Leben erweckt. Nun bringt er Krieg und Zerstörung zu den Menschen von Tregellian. Die junge Apothekerstochter Errin versucht verzweifelt, sich in diesen gefährlichen Zeiten über Wasser zu halten. Doch seit ihr Bruder Lief verschwunden ist, muss sie sich alleine um ihre kranke Mutter kümmern. Über die Runden kommt sie nur, weil sie verbotene Kräutertränke braut, die sie heimlich verkauft. Als Soldaten sie und ihre Mutter aus ihrem Dorf vertreiben, gibt es nur einen, an den sich Errin wenden kann: den mysteriösen Silas. Ein junger Mann, der tödliche Gifte bei ihr kauft, aber nie verrät, wozu er sie verwendet. Silas verspricht, Errin zu helfen. Doch als ihr vermeintlicher Retter spurlos verschwindet, muss Errin eine Entscheidung treffen, die das Schicksal des Reiches verändern wird ...

Ich habe die Inhaltsangabe vorher nicht gelesen, sondern habe mich gleich in das Abenteuer gestürzt und natürlich Twylla erwartet. Und sie nicht bekommen. Stattdessen wurde die Geschichte in diesem Buch von Errin erzählt. Ich habe eine Weile gebraucht um damit klar zu kommen, dass muss ich ganz ehrlich gestehen, allerdings ist Errin ein richtig klasse Hauptcharakter, dass sie mich wirklich schnell überzeugt hat.

Errin ist einer dieser Charaktere, die wirklich die ganze Last der Welt auf den Schultern trägt. Sie muss sich alleine um ihre kranke Mutter kümmern, muss sich mit einem alten, schmierigen Richter rumschlagen, der nicht nur hinter dem Geld für ihre Miete hinter her ist. Ich habe nicht gleich gewusst, dass Errin Lief's Schwester ist, sondern es wirklich erst begriffen als es im Buch klar und deutlich ausgesprochen wurde (ja, die Inhaltsangabe verrät es, vielleicht sollte ich es mir doch angewöhnen sie zu überfliegen).

Und wir hatten Silas, einen unbekannten Freund und Helfer, bei dem man sich allerdings nicht immer sicher sein kann ob man ihm vertrauen kann oder nicht. Ich war sofort von ihm begeistert. Offensichtlich.

Ich fand die Beziehung der Beiden einfach wirklich interessant und war wirklich froh, dass sie sich doch wirklich auf ihn verlassen konnte. Sie hat wirklich jemanden gebraucht, der ihr nicht viele Fragen stellt aber ihr trotzdem aushilft. Was mir besonders gefallen hat war die Freundschaften der verschiedenen Mädels in dem Buch, Errin, die auf ihrer Reise in ihrer alten Heimat landet und ihre Freundin Lirys wieder trifft. Außerdem das Gespräch das Errin mit Lirys' Mutter vor ihrer Abreise hatte. Ich fand diese Momente so unglaublich wichtig. (Ich hoffe wirklich das die Beiden okay sind und es ihnen gut geht.) Und dann natürlich Dimia/Twylla und Errin. Die Beiden haben wirklich so viel gemeinsam, deswegen bin ich unheimlich froh, dass sie sich gefunden haben. Ich hoffe, dass wir in dem letzten Buch noch viel mehr davon bekommen.

Lief. Statt dem freudigen Wiedersehen der Geschwister, haben wir DAS bekommen. Wieder Verrat von seiner Seite aus. Mann, ich hab den Kerl am Anfang des ersten Buches so sehr gemocht und dann ging alles den Bach runter und es gibt keine Aussicht auf Besserung.

Und das Ende. Okay, hier werde ich nichts verraten aber es war so gut. SO GUT.

Allgemein macht mich die Situation am Ende wirklich total nervös aber es gibt Hoffnung.

Ich kann es echt kaum abwarten das letzte Buch zu lesen. AAAAAAH!!!!!

***

It's the second book in the The Sin Eater's Daugher Trilogy, so there will be Spoilers, also because I can't keep my mouth shut and need to talk about things that happened in this book. So beware of Spoilers ahead.

Summary: Return to the darkly beautiful world of The Sin Eater's Daughter with a sequel that will leave you awed, terrified . . . and desperate for more.

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.

When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.

I didn't read the summary before I started the book, because I just wanted to dive back into the world and the adventure, of course I expected Twylla. She wasn't there. This time we read the story from Errin. to be completely honest, it took me quite a bit to get used to it BUT Errin is such a great main character, that she got me on her side pretty fast.

Errin is one of those characters that carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. She has to take care of her sick mother all alone and has to deal with the old, sleazy judge, who is not just interested in the rent money she owes him. I didn't know right from the start, that she was Lief's sister, I only got it when it was clearly stated in the book (the summary clearly tells it, but yeah, maybe I should start to at least skim through the summaries)

And we got Silas, a friend and a helper, even though it took Errin a long time and an accident to finally see his face. You just never know if you could trust him or not. I loved him. Obviously.

I loved the relationship between the two, so interesting and I'm so glad that at the end of everything she really could count on him. She just really needed someone around her that didn't asked questions but helped her anyway. What I also really loved were the friendship between the ladies in the book, Errin, who on her journey, came to her old home and met her friend Lirys. Also the talk Errin had with Lirys's mother before she left. I thought these moments where so important. (I really hope that both of them are okay, that they are safe somewhere.) And then of course Dimia/Twylla and Errin. They have so much in common and I'm so happy they found each other. I hope we get more of that in the last book.

Lief. Instead of the happy reunion of the siblings, we got THAT. Betrayal from his side, again. Man, I loved the dude in the beginning of the first book but since then everything went to hell, seems like there is no turning back for him now.

And the end. I won't say anything about that but it was so good. SO GOOD.

Overall the situation at the end makes me super nervous but there is hope.

I can't wait to read the last book. AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!

First things first: I received this book through NetGalley.

German and english review

Ich hatte das Buch schon eine Weile auf meiner Liste und als ich es dann bei NetGalley gesehen hatte, musste ich einfach zugreifen. Denn die Geschichte um die es geht, hat mich einfach gleich angesprochen als ich irgendwann mal von dem Buch gehört hatte.

Inhalt: Die siebzehnjährige Twylla ist kein Mädchen wie jedes andere: Sie ist die Verkörperung der Großen Göttin und wird als solche im ganzen Land verehrt - außerdem ist es ihr bestimmt, einmal den Kronprinzen zu heiraten. Doch ihr göttliches Schicksal bringt auch eine schreckliche Verpflichtung mit sich: Jeden Monat muss sie tödliches Gift trinken, gegen das nur sie, als göttliche Inkarnation, immun ist. Doch jeder, der Twylla berührt, wird von dem Gift infiziert und stirbt. Twylla ist der einsamste Mensch der Welt. Wer kann schon ein Mädchen lieben, das regelmäßig Verbrecher und Verräter durch seine Berührung hinrichtet? Vor der alle erschrocken zurückweichen, sobald sie einen Raum betritt? Sogar der Kronprinz, der ja einmal ihr Mann werden soll, meidet sie. Doch alles ändert sich, als Twylla ein neuer Wächter zur Seite gestellt wird. Mit frechem Grinsen und unangemessenen Bemerkungen zieht der junge Mann alles, woran Twylla geglaubt hat, in Zweifel. Ist ihre Heirat mit dem Prinzen wirklich vom Schicksal vorherbestimmt? Ist sie tatsächlich die Verkörperung einer Gottheit? Und nicht zuletzt: Was hat es mit dem schrecklichen Gift auf sich, das auf alle, außer auf Twylla, eine tödliche Wirkung hat? Nach und nach deckt Twylla mit Hilfe ihres charmanten Beschützers eine mörderische Intrige auf, die die Grundfesten des gesamten Landes Lormere ins Wanken bringt …

TWYLLA!!!! Ich fand ihre Geschichte einfach so herzzerreisend. Erst ihre Kindheit, ihre Mutter, die Sündenesserin, die nicht gerade Wärme versprüht. Dann wird sie von ihrer Familie weggeholt und landet im Schloss und da wird das Leben für sie nicht besser. Sie verliert gleich zwei Menschen, die ihr wirklich wichtig waren (Dorin!!!) Sie hat mir echt unheimlich Leid getan. Bis dann Lief aufgetaucht ist und ihr Leben doch besser geworden ist. (Ich mag es ja normalerweise nicht wenn in Büchern durch einen Mann die Welt plötzlich so viel besser für den Hauptcharakter wird. Aber hier hat es gut gepasst.)

Ich muss sagen, dass das Buch an sich, komplett anders war als ich es mir vorher vorgestellt hatte aber das hat mir echt gut gefallen. Ich fand die verschiedenen Wendungen durchweg durch das Buch wirklich spannend und hab sie teilweise auch nicht kommen sehen. Gerade zum Ende hin, sind doch ein paar Dinge passiert, die mich total blind getroffen haben und mit denen ich noch nicht weiß, wie ich damit umgehen soll.

Da das Buch das erste Buch in einer Serie (oder wenigstend einem Dreiteiler ist), war das Ende natürlich super weit offen. Was mich ein bisschen stört, weil ich wieder mal ein Buchkaufverbot über mich verhangen habe und ich jetzt warten muss, bis ich endlich meine Finger an das buch kriege. Aber da kann die Autorin ja nichts dafür.

Alles in allem ein super Buch, dass wirklich schön geschrieben ist und dass ich wirklich gut weiter empfehlen kann.

***

I had this book on my list for a while now and when I saw it on NetGalley, I just had to have it. The summary of the book really intrigued me, way back when I first heard of this book.

Summary: A startling, seductive, deliciously dark debut that will shatter your definition of YA fantasy. Sixteen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she's engaged to the prince, no one speaks to her. No one even looks at her. Because Twylla isn't a member of the court. She's the executioner.As the goddess-embodied, Twylla kills with a single touch. So each week, she's taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love her. Who could care for a girl with murder in her veins? Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to her touch, avoids her.But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose playful 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 a treasonous romance is the least of Twylla's problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies-a plan that requires an unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

TWYLLA!!!! Her story was just so heartbreaking. First her childhood, her mother the sin eater, who was anything but warm. Than she gets taken away from her family and gets to live in the big castle but her life doesn't get better there. She looses two people that she feels actually close to (Dorin!!!). I just felt so bad for her. Until Lief shows up and her life gets much better. (Usually I dislike books where the life of the maincharacter gets better just because a dude shows up. But here, it kinda worked)

I have to say that the book itself was totally different from what I expected but I really liked that. I loved all the twists and turns throughout the book, most of them I didn't see coming at all. Especially towards the end some things happened that punched me right in the face and I'm still not sure how to really deal with them.

The book is the first one in a series (or at least a trilogy), so the ending is wide wide open. I'm on a bookbuying ban once again, so it irks me big time that I can't get my hands on the next book soon. But that's not the authors fault.

Overall, the book is really great and very well written, I highly recommend it.

I picked this little gem up on Audible during their two for one sale last month, sometimes I am that person who buys a book based on the cover. But I can’t help myself when almost every book I find has an eye-catchingly awesome cover. Sometimes I’m disappointed, sometimes I fall in love with the book and have to force myself to read the next one on the list. But this book doesn’t really fit into either category.

Twylla is a sixteen year old goddess embodied killer, nothing out of the norm there. She kills with a single touch and is forced to do so by the Queen of Lormere. Every month she drinks the poison that is suppose to be proof that she is Daunen Embodied, thus making her skin poisonous to anyone that she touches…other than members of the royal family.

“In the stories of old, a hero is the one who sweeps in with a drawn sword and noble face, to kill the Dragon and free the princess. In the stories of old it never seems to dawn on the princess that she should be careful not to put herself at mercy of those who would do her ill in the first place. I don’t live in the stories of old.”

Honestly, I felt bad for this girl. She spends the first twelve years of her life with her mother, the Sin Eater. Her mother goes to the families that have lost a loved one (usually those who can afford to pay her) and eats a meal on top of their casket while the family sits around her and grieves. It’s suppose to be some way of her taking in the sins of the departed and allowing them to move on with a clean slate. I did find the bits of information on sin eating to be pretty interesting, it’s much more than what I thought it would be. Anyway, at twelve, Twylla leaves her mother and sister to go serve the royal family of Lormere as their executioner and wait out her time to marry Prince Merek. So for the past four years she has had no contact with her family and just spends her time praying, sewing and killing people. She was being manipulated and brainwashed by everyone she knew, including her husband to be.

Everything changes for Twylla when her guard falls ill to a bee sting and she is left in the care of her second, and newest guard, Lief. She has been weary of him from the start, he doesn’t seem to have any fear of her terrible gift and once he is alone with her he gets even more comfortable. For Twylla, he opens a door to adventure, honesty, love and all the strings attached.

I didn’t dislike this book, the writing was nice and I was too busy feeling bad for the main character to hate her…though I hated everyone else, that’s new. I will probably read the rest of the series because I want to know who was knocking on her door! Also, the story was decent, it was one I hadn’t read before and I want to know what happens to Twylla, Merek and Lief.

The Sin Eater's Daughter -- Melinda Salisbury

Book 1 of The Sin Eater's Daughter

2015 Release -- Scholastic

Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

The only promising aspect of this book was that it had an interesting premise. Otherwise, The Sin Eater's Daughter was really just a fairly boring read with lots of unrelatable characters who are dramatic and make lots of bad decisions.

The Story:
Twylla is the Sin Eater's daughter, but for the past few years has lived in the castle as a legend come to life, Daunen Embodied, who is supposedly the reborn daughter of the Gods. She is immune to all poisons and can kill with her bare touch; as such, she is tasked as the executioner of all traitors of the kingdom. But as the story progresses, Twylla begins to learn that her status is not so much special, but she's really just a puppet being strung around by the evil queen who wants to continue ruling in glory. On top of that, the plot thickens (and thickens, and thickens, and thickens) as all of the evil queen's deceit is revealed to Twylla, little by little.

The Thoughts:
And honestly, not much else really happens. The Sin Eater's Daughter had a lot of potential to be an intriguing high fantasy with a kickass heroine who should have been more than a moping, pitiably boring doormat. But unfortunately, while the main conflict and the story's direction was quite clear, very little of the narration really helps to do much for the story's progression.

Honestly, the book wasn't really terrible and I didn't really hate it, per se. It was just pretty boring. The writing is decent and smooth, the conflict is attractive, if not the most unique, and the escalating of plot twists and secrets revealed had potential. But all of it together just felt really, really flat--like, I knew what was happening was supposed to be somewhat meaningful and exciting, but instead, I didn't really care enough to react.

The characters were like drama queens, the lot of them; a lot of the dialogue towards the ending seemed unnecessarily deliberate and theatrical.

But I somehow managed to get through the entire thing--it felt fairly short in comparison to other books I've been reading, which could have been a plus.


Final Thoughts: And despite my boredom, I was curious enough to finish the book. Despite my boredom I'm actually wondering about the rest of the series and what happens. But it doesn't escape me that I'm really 'meh' about the story line and the characters, especially Twylla.

As I've already stated, Twylla, especially, is dramatic about her situation and makes very bad decisions throughout the entire book and never learns from them. Most importantly, she was just a very boring heroine to follow even with all her dramatic claims of "Woe is me"--probably because of them.  I don't find her frustrating, really, because I'm not sure I cared enough about the goings on about the book to BE frustrated.  I'm just in a mellow 'meh' state with her and the book.

Things weren't terrible.  Things could have been good, but they weren't.  Simple as that.

And what about the part where she's the Sin Eater's daughter? Somehow, throughout the entire book, that point just didn't seem like it was all that significant. She could have been the Pig Farmer's Daughter, or the Random Pedestrian's Daughter, or even a little orphan girl and it probably wouldn't have made a difference to the story.

Although, I must admit, at least the ritual of Sin Eating is a pretty nice touch. In fact, quite a bit of the culture behind the book's world has potential for development with a proper story.

Now, the tradition of the royal family line marrying their siblings though... that made me shudder a little bit, even as I see it as another nice touch to the story's world-building. Still...

This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

This book though. It is so deliciously intense and I cannot help but want to jump up and down with equal parts excitement and fear. There is so much I want to say about this book but so much I cannot say without spoiling certain things.

For starters though, I would like to commend Melinda on her geniusness. Seriously. She is super clever and I just want to, I don’t know, do something to let her know how much I appreciate her cleverness. The sad thing is that after everything I have been put through in this book, and believe me, this book will DRAIN you, I am kind of scared of the sequel.

Let’s not talk about the sequel though, let’s talk about this book and why I think it’s the best thing ever and why I kind of want to shove it in everyone’s faces and tell them to READ THE DAMN BOOK!

Twylla is an interesting main character but I am not going to tell you she is badass because she isn’t. What she is is real and sometimes pathetically so. She came to the castle because it was her dream and she didn’t want the life she had. She left her siblings behind to live in comfort and didn't contact them. It isn’t that they ever left her thoughts, they didn’t, but on the queen’s insistence, she didn't contact her own family. Sometimes I really did question why she didn’t question things, but seeing the way she grew up, it was easy to see why. I am not making Twylla sound particularly admirable and in the beginning, she isn’t. There isn’t much to her that makes her stand out, but by the end of the book, she is absolutely amazing! She undergoes SO MUCH DEVELOPMENT. She starts to stand up for herself and she grows into her own. She isn’t drowning in self-pity; she is starting to take action and right at the end of the novel; she does me proud. That’s the kind of development you want in a book. Perfect characters are not fun to read about. Non-perfect characters are!

Lief is our love interest and sometimes he was annoying, but goddamn, in spite of it, I cannot help but love him. There are things I want to say about him but I will not. Lief is beautiful and mine and no one can have him *takes him and runs away*. You must read the book to find out more and if there are things you need to talk to someone about with, I am here. We can have an entire conversation in exclamation marks!!!!!!! if need be.

This brings us to the romance and while some of you might be wondering if there is a love triangle, I never thought there was one. Twylla seemed to have wanted the prince’s attention in the beginning, but half way through the book, she knows who she wants. She never goes back and forth. It’s plain old romance that takes its time to develop and is SO MUCH FUN to read about.

One thing I always look forward to in a fantasy novel is the world building and the world building in this novel is gorgeous. There were aspects of it that shocked me, but at the same time, this is a world that has been finely crafted. The author doesn’t just tell us about the superstitious nature of the people but she shows it and she does so well. It’s scary but it adds a whole new interesting layer to the book and I appreciated it. I can already imagine this small kingdom that is secluded from all other kingdoms and so unlike them as well. It makes me wonder what is in store for us in the next book world building wise, when we’ll finally get to see the ‘rest of the world’.

The plot is definitely the highlight of this book. There were certain twists I saw coming but the final one shocked me. It was the middle of the night and my roommate was sleeping so I didn’t get the pleasure of screaming in agony as things turned the way they did and I cannot even begin to tell you how shocked I was. Rarely have I ever been so caught off guard and in the best way possible (or the worst way depending on how you look at it).

In spite of how traumatized I was by the twist I adored how Melinda didn’t just end the book there. The epilogue was gorgeously written and the way it ended, instead of making me crave the sequel in the worst way possible, makes me want it even more because it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. It ends on a certain hopeful note that will have your heart beating faster than normal and will leave you with a smile on your face even though you just endured traumatizing events.

The ending leaves the book complete and makes it so that it could be a stand alone  (I am glad it isn’t one though). I want the sequel and while I am terrified of what Melinda might do and what else she might put us through, I want to see more of this world she has created and I want to spend more time with the characters I have come to love.

If you haven’t gotten the memo, what I need y’all to do when this book comes out is to stop, drop and roll. I mean read the book. I recommend this to lovers of fantasy and anyone who just wants to read a book that has high stakes.