This was a complete cover request for me (just look at how beautiful it is!) but it didn't disappoint. This is historical fiction with comparisons to A HANDMAID'S TALE. Original and inventive.

In The Sin Eater we meet May who is arrested for stealing a loaf of bread and sentenced to become a Sin Eater. This is a shocking and terrible sentence. For becoming a Sin Eater will leave May shunned by everyone around her.

As soon as I read the description for the book I knew I had to read it. Although I have to admit when I first started reading I wasn’t quite sure which way the story would go. However what I did find was an interesting story with an engaging and determined character at its heart. I instantly felt for May as she is left to fend for herself in this new role. You can feel both her fear and unease as she is expected to carry out her duties as a Sin Eater. This aspect to the story also brought forth a fascinating side. I found the different types of foods for the various sins really interesting. With some that you would definitely want to avoid!

Throughout there is treachery, secrets and manipulations woven into the story. With May having to navigate her way through this very new and dangerous path that she has found herself on. The pacing is pretty good throughout with only the occasional moment where the pace slows. I have to say that The Sin Eater isn’t really like anything I have read before. It has a dark and at times quirky edge that instantly appealed. With a setting of an alternative sixteenth century England this definitely added a more extreme mix of danger and corruption to the story. Making May’s life even more difficult!

The Sin Eater hides an intriguing mystery that begs to be solved. This combined wonderfully with the historical setting albeit a fantasy one!

I didn't enjoy this book. It was very dark and slow moving. I got about a quarter through and gave up

Murder most foul.

May Owens is fourteen and recently orphaned. She’s arrested for stealing a loaf of bread and thrown into prison. She’s never charged for stealing the bread but instead, chosen by the court to become a Sin-Eater. This takes her to a part of the city where normally no one enters. May must live with the current Sin-Eater and learn the trade and the foods that need to be eaten to represent the sins of those dying. When two women closely connected to the queen die, and deer hearts are found among the items the Sin-Eater must eat, May watches as the Sin-Eater refuses to eat them, knowing that no confession was made by either of the women to a murder demanding a deer heart be eaten. May is shocked when the Sin-Eater is dragged away to be killed for refusing to partake of the meal.

It only took me to read the first few sentences to be fully engaged and wanting more of this remarkable story of May Owens’ life as a Sin-Eater. May is a beautiful character in every way as she’s illiterate, can only count to twelve and yet has a sharp mind more than capable of working out a plan to trap a killer.

The court of Queen Bethany is filled with people who May gives her own names; the doctor is The Willow Tree. Black Fingers is one of the most powerful men in the court, but there is also the Country Mouse who is hoping to marry the queen. It’s these descriptions of characters that I found made the book even more enjoyable for me because I could see from May’s descriptions why she would call them these names.

It’s not just a story about May going about her duties as a Sin-Eater, but May allowing people like Brida, a leper, Paul and Frederick and Jane his wife to live with her. There are also the musicians, banished to the edges of the city who May befriends. Characters so vibrant and alive you as a bystander in the story can only marvel at their ingenuity for managing to survive each day under terrible circumstances.

There is so much within the pages of this story – a new religion, which required a Sin-Eater to attend to the dying and hears their sins. A virgin Queen with suitors flocking to marry her. A court filled with traitors and those trying to hide dark secrets. But also, ordinary people trying to live and survive in a country coming to terms with a new religion.

Megan Campisi’s writing is full of beautiful poetic and descriptive words, and the protagonist, a young uneducated girl with a very sharp brain, able to outwit the cleverest of killers is one of the most outstanding characters possible to tell this tale.

I found myself doing research while reading this book because I’d never heard of sin-eaters and was fascinated to discover their history and importance in history.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

The Sin Eater is q dark, unique, original, well-crafted, visionary, horrifying, twisty, surprising tale, a very well written, somehow quirky, absurd, complex fantasy!

This story follows May in a place very similar to 1600s England. May has been recently orphaned and caught stealing bread. Her sentence is a steep one; she must become a Sin Eater. Someone that hears the final confessions of the dying and eats the sins as a funeral rite, guaranteeing their souls access to heaven. May's new ability opens new doors for her, but she is also shunned by society as well. For they are the sins they must consume leaves stains, shunned and silenced, doomed to live in exile at the edge of town. When one of the Queen's courtiers falls ill May must hear their last confession, and May begins to investigate a terrible rumour that's being whispered throughout the palace.

This is such a unique and imaginative book! There was such a good set up of the world and the Sin Eaters, but I did think that sometimes it wasn't always concise. I do think that it could have easily been set in Elizabethan England. Things could have been easily explained as cover ups or secret societies or something and it would have made perfect sense! I don't think that it needed to have been a thinly veiled 1600s England.

I did really enjoy this book and thought that it was very good. It's a very unique and darkly imaginative story that I would recommend to anyone who likes historical fiction, fantasy and mysteries.

I found this book completely engaging and very interesting. It tells the story of May, a young girl in a thinly veiled version of England in the 1600s who, upon being caught stealing a loaf of bread, is sentenced to become a sin eater - the individual who takes the sins of the dying on to themselves by eating certain foods. This practice is something that happened historically, but what Megan Campisi does so well, is provide a dystopian element to the proceedings with an otherworldy quality. And so, Catholics become Eucharistians, Protestants become Makers Men and so on. I really liked the way we follow proceedings from May's perspective and how each character is provided with a name based on their characteristics as May sees them - Black Fingers, Mushed Face etc. I also thought that there was a nice mystery element to the plot, which ensured the narrative kept moving forward. My only criticism is that I think this mystery was concluded quite abruptly, but other than that, I would definitely recommend this book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The opening chapters are very interesting and the world is set up superbly...and the explanations of sin eaters and what they do were intriguing. I really enjoyed the first few chapters.

However I found the book as a whole really bleak and a little bit stodgy. The story could have been much more concise and would have worked much better. I wasn't a fan of descriptive names (Mush Face, Fair Head etc,) and the more the story progressed the more bleak it became.

I think a much simpler and shorter story would have worked better as the idea of sin eaters are truly interesting.

The author should definitely be commended for world building and ideas and I will look forward to reading more by this author in the future but this one wasn't for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a strange book. The central idea is interesting, but I don't really understand why it had to be set in a parallel universe that was recognisably Elizabethan England. The 2 parts of the plot that deviate from known history could easily have been explained as cover ups (Duh!).
Sin eating WAS practised apparently, albeit not so widely as in the book, but again in a fiction that widespread use could have been accepted.
The period was evoked well and I liked the character of May and it was quite well written, but the use of the newspanto and alternative nursery rhymes to establish that we weren't in our world really grated and were not really necessary.

The cover looks amazing, but the story itself didn't grab me, unfortunately. I found it difficult to get through this book.

I do enjoy dystopian fiction, but I think the historical setting put me off, and I couldn't really immerse myself in it. Still, the language is rich and the author's writing style lifts this up to a more entertaining read that it might have otherwise been.

Wow, what an original concept for a novel! So immersive and rich.
Lovers of fantasy and historical fiction will adore this story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is an alternative history story about women’s voices and murder; dark and rich, with a bitter undertone, like chocolate-covered coffee beans. (I wonder what sin those would represent?)

The worldbuilding is superb and perfectly conjures up the sights, smells and sounds of the rural villages and urban slums, as well as the receiving rooms of the middle, upper and royal classes. For that is the key to the unhappiness, but also the advantage, of the sin-eater’s lot. She may not speak, other than the rote phrases of her ritualistic role, but being shunned and ignored – feared – by every other human soul, gives her a strange kind of freedom to go where she wishes and ignore the rules that apply to those not already earmarked for Hell.

This idea of a woman being assigned to ‘eat’ the sins of the dying in a simple, yet very specific, ritual, and thereby freeing them for Heaven and damning her own soul a little more each time… it feels like dystopian fantasy, and yet also totally believable as actual historical fact. I was horrified and distraught for poor May as she received her terrible sentence, and amazed as she then went on to forge her own, almost-bearable path from it.

In addition to May’s journey of suffering and survival – as she fully believes that her eternal soul is lost to hellfire – is the additional intrigue of suspicious death in courtly circles, and May’s position as socially invisible puts her in the ideal position to be able to investigate events. After all, taking away her voice in the world still leaves her with her brain and her curiosity, and little to feast them on but the lives of other people! May’s character lived and breathed in my imagination as I read: from chattering child, to bitter, lonely young woman – proud and determined to survive despite her lot.

There are plenty of triggers throughout the story: animal cruelty; child abuse; sexual abuse; infanticide; sexual and physical violence; torture and, of course, murder. This is a dark tale of deprivation and cruelty but, never gratuitous, is also a story of comradeship, loyalty and unexpected kindness.

Megan Campisi explores how there can be power in the apparent helplessness of being feared and outcast. She also highlights the importance of human touch, acceptance, communication… of reaching out and being reached out to. These yearnings hit a particularly raw nerve during these times of pandemic, when we must keep our distance from loved ones from fear of a different nature. This current insight brought May’s plight into stark focus in a way that might not have moved me as deeply in different times, wrapped in the comfort of my own family and friends.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves historical fiction focused on those cast out from ‘normal’ society. Plot, characters, worldbuilding all combine to make this story unputdownable and utterly memorable.



'Salt for pride. Mustard seed for lies. Barley for curses. There are grapes too, laid red and bursting across the pinewood coffin – one grape split with a ruby seed poking through the skin like a splinter through flesh. There’s crow’s meat stewed with plums and a homemade loaf, small and shaped like a bobbin. Why a loaf in such a shape? I think. And why so small? There are other foods too, but not many. My mother had few sins.'

– Megan Campisi, The Sin-Eater


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I did try to read this several times, but found the actual text unreadable. Lines are constantly being repeated, often one and a half lines to make it even trickier to find your place and the font changes size, sometimes there would be very small don't in between lines of text. I'm hoping to get the actual book from the library for a review.

A beautiful magical story. A book to savour and enjoy. It’s perfect for winter reading, curling up with a big mug of tea and losing yourself for a few hours

Absolutely loved this. The practice of sin eating fascinates me and I loved how this was woven into a brilliant historical novel with lots of twists! I never wanted it to end.

I saw the cover of this book and seeing it was historical fiction/fantasy, I just had to read it.

Sin Eaters are social pariahs, avoided by everyone because of who they are and what they stand for. Sin Eaters eat the food recited to them whilst on one’s death bed, to absolve them of their sins when they have passed!

“She alone may never confess and be absolved”

In the first chapter we are introduced to May Owers who, after stealing a loaf of bread from the bakers, finds herself being marched through the streets from the jail to the courthouse. May is put before the “Recorder” (of punishments and deaths).

May’s punishment was to become a Sin Eater.

“It means you’ll never again see folk smiling…….”
“It means you’ll never again feel the press of a………….. hug”
“You’ll never marry”
“You’ll never bear a child”
“You’ll never have a lover or……… a good friend”
“The only one you’ll ever have is her…..”

May leaves the courthouse and journeys to the Northside to meet and live with the only other Sin Eater in the town.

From here on in May follows in the footsteps of the elder sin eater “Ruth” until her unfortunate death. May then takes on her role and becomes the Sin Eater in the Court of Queen Bethany (the Court is loosely based around and parallels with Queen Elizabeth and the Tudor era). From her in this leads to May trying to solve the mystery of “Ruths” demise.

I galloped through this book, a fascinating and absorbing read, intriguing enough to research further the life of a sin eater, which dates back to the 1800’s. Yes, they actually existed!

5 stars from myself and a big thank you to Megan Campisi, Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2020/11/26/sin-eater-by-megan-campisi/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : I really enjoyed this debut

The Sin Eater is set in a very loosely disguised England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. As we all know, this was a tumultuous period for the people of England when people’s faith was sorely put to the test and this, in my mind, seems to be the inspiration for the Sin Eater. I was fascinated by this premise, enough so that I even went to do some more reading about sin eating when I finished this novel and that’s always a strong sign that the book has really worked its magic.

May is 14 years old when, caught for stealing bread, she is sentenced to become a sin eater. A fate worse than death it would seem. As a sin eater May is shunned by everyone, she really does become unheard and unseen, apart from those moments when taking a deathbed confession and recounting the foods to be eaten. Sin eaters wear a collar so that all may know their profession and shun them, plus their tongue is branded with a letter S. In this reimagined England only women become sin eaters and different foods represent different sins.

So, May is sentenced, and apprenticed to an older sin eater who she follows to observe the rituals. Full of fear and superstition herself May is terrified of eating the sins of others. One day the two find themselves taken to the Queen’s court and this is where the intrigue begins. Sin eaters only eat the foods that relate to the sins recalled and so when a deer heart appears on the body of a royal governess, when she did not confess to the murder it represents, the older sin eater refuses to eat it. She is thrown into prison and tortured to death. May then finds herself completely alone, she suspects foul deeds at Court and when she is called back she begins to develop her own suspicions of what is taking place. Unfortunately, this puts her in a rather dangerous predicament that means she must tread carefully or follow the cruel fate of the previous sin eater.

There are a number of things that worked really well for me with this story.

The writing. I thought this was a really strong aspect and I was very quickly pulled into the story. This was a brutal time in which to live – and even more so for women. People frequently went without food and the penalties for theft were harsh. I thought Campisis did a wonderful job of depicting the times without the need for flowery prose.

The MC. I liked May, or more to the point I liked her character arc. I think the first thing you have to bear in mind here is May’s age. She is very young when this cruel burden is placed upon her, of course the period was hard for everyone and children didn’t have the luxury of a ‘real’ childhood and in that respect May isn’t the exception. It’s more that she now finds herself (almost) completely shunned and it’s the horror that she herself experiences that really comes across. We witness her internal turmoil as she comes to grips with what a sin eater really is and also her own lightbulb moment as she realises that there is a certain freedom in being completely ignored or unseen. In fact it’s this freedom that really puts her into danger, because not everyone is afraid of the sin eater.

Thankfully, not everyone is quite as superstitious, when it comes to sin eaters and so May does have some interaction with other characters along the way. Some of these interactions are unwanted and it’s nice to see May eventually coming to the realisation that she does have some control over this aspect of her life.

I love historical novels and I don’t tend to read as much of them as I used to so when I do pick one up it often feels refreshingly different. The author has thinly disguised the period here but it’s still blatantly obvious who the characters are and also the particular scandal that fuels the story and I just loved the whole idea of the sin eater with all the lore that surrounds it. The types of food and drink and the sins they represent being one particular example, the strange twist on old nursery rhymes being another.

In terms of criticisms. I don’t really have much. I think the mystery is not the strongest element of the story here but for me it didn’t really matter too much because I was so immersed in May’s plight.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the Sin Eater. It feels like a very original concept on which to base the intrigues of court and I will certainly look for more work by this author in the future.

I received a copy through netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

In an alternate history, convicted women are sentenced to be 'sin eaters' - destined to consume the bad deeds of the dying in order to relieve their burdens and allow their soul to transcend. They are the living inbodiment bod Eve, and as such live this cursed life as outcasts.

Our main protagonist May is one such sin eater. Convicted of stealing bread, she spends her time devouring others sins via the placing of a representative food on the coffin of the dead. However, when a deer heart is found on top of a coffin she finds herself embroiled in a mystery that will lead her to the royal court. I really liked May as a character. She's on the fringes of society, shunned because of what she is and is often desperate and lonely. She has no-one and nothing, yet strives to survive and often shows an inner strength when called upon.

The plot is fast paced and intriguing, drawing on famous historical figures and twisting them into a more fantastical setting. There are hints of the familiar yet everything is just that little bit different enough to make it feel realistic. It's cleverly done, and allows the reader to fall into the world and the setting easily. It's also highly descriptive and atmospheric, especially when we enter the court setting, which again lends itself well to the mysterious murder plot that unfolds.

Distinctly unique and imaginative, I loved the intertwining of real historical events and figures with a magical twist.

It's taken me a little while to write this one but it isn't necessarily a book I've forgotten. I'm not sure quite what I expected with this book either but it wasn't quite what I'd envisaged. The premise was brilliant: individuals, specifically women as I understand it, who are forced to absorb the sins of the dying by eating the associated food symbolising those sins. This in turn, unburdens the dying and allows them to by forgiven whilst the sin eater will be relegated to hell. Set in the 16th century, we meet May: a 14-year-old orphan who has stollen a loaf of bread and is ultimately punished by being made to become a sin eater.

The imagery that Campisi conjures up is exactly what you'd expert for the era: filth, disease, poverty and class boundaries. Whilst May did have presence, it took me a while to warm to her and understand her character. Some of the turns of phrase made it difficult to develop a reading rhythm. We did start to see more of the relationships that May forms, which I enjoyed and wanted more of. There was also a scandal and a murder mystery intertwined that certainly picked up the pace toward the end of the book.

It was a good read, albeit a little arduous at times with some detail that I wasn't necessarily interested in. But I think I was particularly enamoured with the idea of what the book was going to be. I can't say the delivery fell short per se, it was more of just an 'Oh.'. This book was unique: the story was original and it didn't remind me of anything else I'd read. So for that reason, I'm going to rate it an overall 4 stars but in terms of my own personal enjoyment, it was probably more of a 3.5.

Set in Elizabethan England, we meet teenage May Owens as she is rounded up by prison guards to be hanged. Even her feisty spirit won't save her it seems, until her fate changes and she is charged with being a Sin Eater.
Sin Eaters are pariahs, with branded tongues and metal collars professing their identities. They are called upon when folk are on their deathbed, for the sins of the dying to be confessed. Sins are converted to specific foods, and the Sin Eater consumes the food thereby consuming the sin and absolving the dying of it.
Her fate seems set in stone, but when she is called to hear the sins of palace staff, May stumbles across a conspiracy - who is placing deer hearts for child killing on the coffins of the recently deceased, when May, sworn to a life of silence, knows that sin was not recited? And why?
Along the way, May grows up, grows into her new identity and job and realises that there can be room in her life for love, for friendship and for self knowledge and growth.
I enjoyed this debut novel, but I think not as much as if I had read in one or two settings - the writing lends itself to total immersion. The character of May was well realised, but most others were quite one dimensional. Overall I think this is worth a read and I will look for the author's future works.

The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi is a fictional story based on true historic events – like Sin Eaters. Set in Elizabethan England with certain changes. The Queen is called Bethany. She follows the new faith. Her sister Queen before her was Queen Maris and followed the old faith. Their father had seven wives. Queen Bethany has many suitors but she marries none – she is The Virgin Queen.

Our main character May is left alone and penniless when her father dies. Starving and desperate, she finally resorts to stealing a loaf of bread. But she is caught by the law-keepers! She sits in prison for quite a while. When she is bought to stand before the Magistrate. Here it is decided that rather than a sentence dancing at the end of a rope, she will be made a Sin Eater.

Before May has time to fully realise what has happened, the Magistrate has the iron collar padlocked around her neck and her tongue branded with an ‘S’ for Sin Eater. Now everyone will know her for who she is. Forbidden from speaking anything other than the formal words she must use at a recitation or eating, and with no-one able to look at her now as to look at her or hear her speak is worse than a witches curse, a Sin Eaters life is incredibly lonely. All May has for company is the older Sin Eater. But of course, neither of them speak. May names the older Death Eater Ruth in her head.

When the heart of a deer is at an eating when no death of a royal infant was recited, ‘Ruth’ refuses to eat. She is arrested. The younger Death Eater is starving and afraid, so she eats.

Another death and another unrecited deer heart. And another.

The Death Eater decides she must learn who the real murderer is and who the victim was. For Ruth’s sake.

This was a really exciting read. It’s fast-paced and emotive. I found myself reading later and later into the night to find how it would end. I quite liked the whisper of the very ending. Like the quiet after a storm. I really enjoyed the correlation with real history, and the changes to names from real people to the characters in the fictional story amused me quite a bit.

I would say that this book is more story-based than character-based. However, the characters are well developed. The author just seems to understand that just because she knows every intimacy of each character, does not mean the reader needs to know. I’m a big fan of ‘if it doesn’t move the story forward, cut it’, and it seems this author is too. There are no parts of the story that drag and I was completely enraptured from the first page, with one exception:

I had never come across the concept of Sin Eaters before. I love history. So a few pages in, I had to stop and do a lot of Googling, and I must say that this does seem like one of the most disturbing jobs in history. It’s not lost on me that Sin Eaters were always women either!

If I had to change one thing about this book I would say it’s the slight romantic element with the Country Mouse. It’s very brief and fleeting. But I’d have liked it reduced even more. Perhaps as just a passing thought, for May at least.