modernhobbitvibes 's review for:

The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

2.75

emotional hopeful medium-paced

---

Pros: Historical details surrounding old cultural beliefs are very interesting. Nice descriptions of the Appalachian wilderness.

YMMV: Use of outdated terminology and practices (especially corporeal punishment) might be a bit cringe-inducing. Also, the entire book is written using phonetically spelled out accents, and while not as thick as, say, the sailors in Dracula, it can be confusing in places and might slow down some readers. (Seriously, it took me a good chapter to realize that "painter" was a reference to "panther", like a mountain lion.) Same goes for some of the wall of text preaching sections. This is also definitely Protestant Christian flavored religious fiction in a big way. Pretty slow to start, though the plot picks up in a big way around the halfway mark and becomes buckwild towards the end, so if you can make it through, it becomes more engaging later.

Cons:

The way a major plot point hinges around the suffering/death of Native peoples is definitely the most questionable part of the book. It's basically mass fridging to further the development of the white characters.

While the ending is ultimately hopeful, there's also just a lot of misery to slog through to get there, and one could argue it's a bit overblown (especially since so much of it is happening to a child).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Colonisation

Moderate: Violence, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide

Colonization/Genocide/Hate Crime/Racism: A major plot point later in the book is the

mass murder of the Native people who used to live in the valley, which is described.

(Child) Death/Grief/Suicidal Thoughts/Suicide Attempt/Mental Illness: The death of the MC's little sister is a major plot point, along with the emotional fallout and the self-blame that she and others in the family feel as a result. Domestic/Emotional/Physical Abuse: Prevalent throughout in mention and depiction, including dated use of corporeal punishment and one character being just the Absolute Worst. Incest: Brief mention

of a daughter being assaulted by her father.

Rape/Sexual Assault: There's one incident where it's unclear if the act was consensual or not, but the sex WAS meant to "ruin" the woman in question, so not great regardless. Suicide: Aside from the MC's suicidal thoughts/near-attempt, there's two other mentions of suicide (including one murder-suicide). Other: Outdated terminology in relation to Native Americans and torches (yes, that word). Much of the MC's guilt is framed around religion, so additional CW for religious trauma. One instance of slut-shaming towards the end. Not exactly an adult-minor relationship but a boy (older, unsure of by how much but at least in his teens) announces he's in love with a girl when she's...ten?? And they get married when they're both adults, so IDK how to tag that one. Also, the valley is basically a cult by the events of the story.