The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury: Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

Title: The Sin Eater's Daughter
Author: Melinda Salisbury
Publisher: Scholastic
Buy this book: Amazon / Book Depository

Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she’s engaged to the prince, Twylla isn’t exactly a member of the court.She’s the executioner.As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month she’s taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla’s fatal touch, avoids her company. But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy 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 Twylla’s been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen. However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla’s problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favor of a doomed love?

Me by the end of this book.

Damn you, Salisbury, damn you! It's been days since I finished this book and I am still completely unable to make up my mind about how I feel. This book took me on a rather wild ride and I was completely unprepared for it. It's one of those books where I thought I had some idea where the story was going, which it did, but then it quickly took twists and turns I never could have predicted. This is a strong debut, that makes me certain I'll be reading whatever Salisbury does next.

I'd had this book on my wishlist for quite some time, the premise sounded intriguing and that cover was just demanding I pick the book up and read it. This is a book that grabs you from page one and it's almost impossible to put it down. The world was one that I couldn't learn enough about, I was fascinated by it. World building is something I pay attention too, but I usually concentrate more on the characters and whether they work for me. It was refreshing to find a book that had me desperate to learn more about the world.


Twylla is a really interesting main character, but how could she not be when she can kill a person with a single touch. I liked learning that she had to drink a deadly poison each month to prove she's a Goddess embodied, which won't kill her but will make her touch fatal to everyone else. Twylla wasn't born into her royal lifestyle, she was actually the daughter of a Sin Eater. I had never actually heard of Sin Eaters before, even though the ritual was used in history - where a person eats a meal which represents the sins of the deceased, allowing them to be absolved of them and rest in peace. Twylla was given the choice to stay with her family, where she would take the place of Sin Eater after her mother or she could choose to go with the Queen and become Daunen embodied. Twylla chose the palace and the extravagant life it presented to her, not really knowing what the consequences would be.

Now the summary for the book talks of the Prince that Twylla is betrothed to, but also about the new guard who arrives. Now that screams LOVE TRIANGLE, which instantly put me off because I'm not a fan. Not to mention I saw a quote in the front of the book saying it had a love triangle to rival Twilight. That also set alarm bells ringing because was there honestly a person who ever liked the love triangle in Twilight? Thankfully both were horribly misleading because this book doesn't actually have a love triangle, at least not in my opinion. Twylla isn't that horribly indecisive girl who finds herself torn between two guys. She's quite decisive and doesn't do that horrible back and forth you see in love triangles. This book actually has characters getting to know one another before declaring their love for each other. I was expecting the romance to be the part of the book I enjoyed the least, but it wasn't. I thought it was handled so well and I loved it. Even if I was taken on a bit of a wild ride where that was concerned.

I refuse to give much of anything away about this book because I can't spoil it for you. I will say that it had way more twists and turns then I ever predicted. There's the evil Queen that you never trust and are rather fearful of, she's the one pulling the strings. I always imagined the Queen as Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones because she really reminded me of her, for many reasons. I loved the court politics aspect to this book as well. There was one reveal that I had guessed and was comforted by the fact that was it, I'd got it and everything would be okay. I was wrong! This book took me completely by surprise, in the best way possible. To make matters even better, it finishes and has an ending that makes it worthy of a standalone, whilst leaving you desperate for more. I finished it thinking it was a standalone, which made me a little sad because I had so much more I wanted to know about this world, the characters and the romance. Have no fear though, apparently it is a series and I can be devouring more of Salisbury's awesome writing soon!

4/5 Butterflies

I really don't want to give away many details about the story because I want you to be able to enjoy it all, to discover everything as you go. I applaud a book that is the first in a series, yet still manages to give you a completely satisfying story without feeling the need to end on a horrible cliffhanger. This has enough closure to read as a standalone, but you'll enjoy it so much that you'll be desperate to get your hands on the sequel regardless. I really enjoyed the book and will be eagerly awaiting whatever Salisbury does next. 

Meet The Author

Melinda Salisbury lives by the sea, which makes me rather jealous of her. She loves to travel and this can be seen in The Sin Eater's Daughter where parts are inspired by real places that she has visited. When she was a child she genuinely believed that Roald Dahl's Matilda was her biography.

To help us get to know Mel a little more, she's going to share with us the top ten things she can be found doing when she isn't reading.

Top 10 Things Mel Does When She's Not Writing

1. Read!

I love reading (show me a writer who doesn’t?!) and it’s my first and greatest love. I always have a book on the go, and even though time is less available to me now, I still snatch moments while I eat my lunch, just before bed, whenever I’m on trains, or buses, or in a queue. I'm trying this year to be more discerning with what I read, now that I have less time to devote to it, and I'm focusing on the books that really appeal to me. And so far, it’s going well! I've read nine books this year so far and loved them all.

Something that all us book bloggers love to do too! If I'm not reading a book then I'm probably writing about a book I've just read.

2. Travel!

I am a big, big traveller, and I’m lucky that my day job affords me plenty of time to do it. My favourite places to go are Northern and Eastern Europe, though Venice is now a new favourite too. Most of my money goes on travelling, I don’t often buy new clothes, and when I do they’re normally from Charity Shops, Ebay or cheaper high street stores. I eat pretty healthily, but keep an eye out for bargains. Seeing the world is my big passion in life.

Now I am jealous of all the beautiful places that Melinda has visited! I need to go away more.

3. Richard III!

 I am a very proud member of the Richard III society! He’s definitely my favourite king, I think he’s been severely lambasted by Tudor propaganda, and it’s been so exciting for me over the past 3 years to experience them finding his body, and the investigations into his life that has provided. That period of medieval history is captivating, so dark and deadly and game-changing, for the whole country.

 4. Castles!

I love going to have a poke around castles, Warwick Castle and the Tower of London are particular favourites. I was really lucky to get an annual pass to the Historic Royal Palaces this year, so I plan to spend a lot of time exploring them. It ties in to my love of medieval history, but there’s something so powerful about walking in the footsteps of the past, and realising it.

Yes! I would love to spend my time visiting castle after castle. I went to a wedding in Dublin, which was taking place in a castle. I literally paid more attention to the beautiful castle than I did to the wedding ceremony. Oops!

5. Nature!

When I was in primary school, I had this thing I called the Animal Club. The purpose of the Animal Club was to learn all of the names of the native British Wildlife. And what their tracks looked like. And their poo. Unsurprisingly, this club was mostly just me. My whole life I’ve been absolutely besotted with the natural world, and I still am. Everything about the cruelty and beauty of nature thrills me, and I think by now I’ll probably never grow out of it. Anything natural science-y gets my attention. It’s fascinating, how little we know about the world around us.

6. Photography!

I am rubbish at it, but I love it so much. One of these days I'm going to get myself a decent camera and learn it properly, because I already spend a lot of time composing shots, and looking for beautiful things to take pictures of. I may as well do it with decent kit. You never know, I could even start a side-line as a stock photographer.

7. Jewellery making!

One thing I already have a side-line in is making jewellery. It started when I decided to make jewellery for my friends one Christmas and went from there. Now I have an Etsy shop, and I used to sell at craft fairs on weekends too (back in the days of yore when I had weekends). I make book themed jewellery, buying second-hand copies of classics and cutting them up and mounting them in bezels. I've also made some The Sin Eater’s Daughter themed necklaces to be given away at my launch. There’s something really therapeutic about creating lovely things, and I hope I get to do it forever.

8. Harry Potter!

I spend a lot of the time I'm not writing talking about the Harry Potter. My Nana bought me the first book for my birthday (after a fraught conversation about lavender bath sets being more appropriate gifts for young ladies – she caved in, she was the best) and on that birthday I woke up, started reading it, finished reading it and immediately took the rest of my birthday money into town to buy the next three books, two t-shirts, and two chocolate frogs. That level of fangirling has not stopped, the other day I bought tickets for my 6^th visit to WB studios, I’ve flown to Florida twice for fan conventions, been to Scotland, Ireland and Sweden for events. I’m an excessively proud Slytherin and plan to eventually use my Collector’s Edition Beedle the Bard as my coffin. Siriusly.

Siriusly, this makes me love Melinda Salisbury even more! We both discovered Harry Potter for the first time when our nan's bought us copies for our birthdays. And it seems that she became as addicted to it as I did. I'm a proud Ravenclaw, even if a small part of me was sad I wasn't a Slytherin and so still own about 6 Slytherin shirts. 

9. Go to the aquarium!

Go to the aquarium! I love the ocean – I live by the sea, and I don’t think I could ever live inland again, not even by a river or a lake – I need the sea. And I’m very lucky, because not only do I live near the sea, but there’s an aquarium very close by too that I can go to when the weather gets rough. There’s something so incredibly soothing about watching fish swim, and something so otherworldly about them. If ever I’m nervous, or anxious about something, I’ll try and get down to the aquarium for an hour or so and find a quiet corner to stand in while I watch the fish. I always feel a lot better when I leave.

10. Mooch around on the internet!

This is the one I'm least proud of. Sometimes, a bit of a wander through the avenues of the Web is fun. Sometimes, four hours pass and the work you were supposed to have done isn't done, and now your eyes hurt and you've nothing to show for it but some reaction GIFs that aren't even that good, if you’re honest. 

I went to the Scholastic blogger brunch, where I was lucky enough to get another ARC copy of The Sin Eater's Daughter. I got my copy signed by Melinda Salisbury, but sadly didn't think to get the spare signed. But I will be giving away my spare copy to one UK winner! And so I don't forget all my international followers, you can have the chance to win a copy from Book Depository, as long as they ship to you!

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