Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

11 reviews

katclaybaugh's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I give this a 4.25/5 stars. This book was extremely tender, and there were some parts that made my heart ache to read. I loved reading her internal dialogue as she made her way through the world as a sin eater and grappled with what that meant. 

It was a great premise, and I loved most of it. There were moments when I had to fight to suspend my disbelief for the sin eater overhearing certain conversations between members of the court. 

I also thought this book would’ve been more powerful if the focus of the novel was more entirely on May the sin eater and less on the court of Queen Elizabeth I aka Queen “Bethany”. It felt like the mystery at the court was a bit of a gimmick to mimic popular royal intrigue plot lines to keep us engaged. I felt like the character of May already had so much depth and the role of a sin eater was already so fascinating that the court intrigue felt unnecessary and overwhelmed the parts of this book that were truly special and unique. 

Keeping the world more focused on May and less on the court would’ve allowed deeper explorations of the thematic aspects of - I had especially hoped for more exploration of her relationship to the Instrument Maker as a Jewish man who didn’t believe in sin eating. 

Overall this premise was so unique and was an engaging, tender, dark but not unbearable sort of read, that I really enjoyed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Death, Ableism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Miscarriage, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Ableism, Abortion, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Classism, Animal death, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Incest, Alcohol, Antisemitism, and Xenophobia

salemander's review

5.0

i really didn’t think i was gonna like this book after reading some reviews but i read this shit in one day. an incredibly riveting devastating story that while maybe not the most exciting at times had such beautiful characterization and was written so poetically i couldn’t put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Ableism, Classism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

alainral's review

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book had an interesting premise and some nice moments, but the mystery element didn't work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Sexism, Slavery, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Grief and Vomit

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Really intriguing and unique story! I did not know this bit of history of sin eaters, and loved learning about it. The story is set around a fictionalized version of England with some minor basis in historical fact (Queen Bethany=Elizabeth, Bloody Maris=Bloody Mary).

The plot twists were great and unexpected! The characters were well written and I enjoyed watching May grow throughout the novel. I also loved the writing style and the pacing was well done, I didn’t want to put this one down! The ending was also perfect for this novel. It wrapped things up with the main plot but left things open character wise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Vomit, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Torture, Rape, and Pedophilia

becca_w_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Classism, Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Body horror, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Sexism, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Misogyny, Vomit, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Slavery

Minor: Rape and Adult/minor relationship

smahlcat's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book is so moving. I teared up multiple times while reading about May’s lot in life. Her character is so brave and scared and well written. I loved her progression through the story, and her determination to do what she sees as right. She’s such a human character with flaws a teenager would have, and the goodness they possess as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Child death, Grief, Death of parent, Animal death, Torture, Abandonment, and Antisemitism

abeeeeee's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Moderate: Incest and Pedophilia

Minor: Antisemitism

christoco's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Murder, Rape, Death of parent, Vomit, Child death, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, and Torture

aliyyah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"Faith is a bloody business."

The Sin Eater is one of the most interesting books I have ever read.

This novel is about a fourteen year old orphan girl who is caught stealing bread, and thus is sentenced to become a sin eater. Sin eaters are women who consume the sins of an individual upon their death, freeing their soul and allowing them to enter heaven. These women however must now carry these sins to their own graves.

I was drawn to this book because of the premise as it struck me as extremely unique and I was not disappointed. I really loved the plot. I think this concept is absolutely fascinating, and learning that this ritual was actually done in the British Isles from the early 1600’s to the 20th century made this novel even richer to me. This book also has a little mystery that, while not at the forefront of the story, is still done very well and had me intrigued from the start.

The main focus of this book is our protagonist, May. While there are a lot of minor characters sprinkled throughout the novel, the heart of this book lies with her. I adored May and I highly enjoyed watching her move through her life. She struggles with being a sin eater but by the end we see a sense of hopefulness from her. May battles with a lot of internal conflict that relate to her family, who she truly is as a person and where exactly does she fit in this world. I felt everything she felt and at times I was completely aching. It was a delight to witness her emotional journey and for me, that was the best part of this book.

I highly enjoyed the writing. It flowed smoothly and captured my attention very easily. I love the atmosphere created by Campisi as well as the religious and political aspects. This book was heavily inspired by 16th century England and I loved the similarities between the history of their world and ours.

Overall I had such an amazing time with this book, and would definitely recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gore, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent

marthas17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved the concept of this book and was drawn in right away. I really enjoyed learning about the main character though her observations of others as well as the ones who came before her. The world drew me in and I felt like I knew the whole city by the end of the book. One complaint, I felt that the climax was very fast and I had wished for it to be more drawn out. I would highly recommend this book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death