Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

4 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

kibiiiariii's review

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, and Alcohol

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

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