By Melinda Salisbury
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
To Sum It Up: Twylla has always had a destiny. First, she was the Sin Eater’s daughter, who would one day carry on the family tradition of atoning for the sins of the dead so that they may rest in peace. Then, Twylla became daughter of the gods with the ability to kill traitors of the kingdom with one touch. She lives in the castle with a cruel and unforgiving queen. W hen the lines between truth and legend become blurred, Twylla must seek out the truth in order to save the kingdom and herself.
Review: My sister Allison actually tried to pry my hands off this book in the library, and after a silent and intense struggle, I was the champion. My triumph was short-lived. Despite the stunning cover and super alluring blurb, the book did not live up to my expectations. To be fair, my expectations were quite high, but there were issues with this book that I had a hard time getting past. The characters were inconsistent and not very likeable and the plotline was smushed into the last thirty pages of the book.
The biggest issue I had with this book was the characters. Let’s start off with our “heroine” Twylla. She was way too self-pitying, and too much of a coward to do anything to help herself. Twylla spent nearly the entire book letting things just happen, neglecting what she knew to be right in order to stay safe. This was extremely annoying as a reader. Additionally, I thought she was quite dimwitted and too easily manipulated. Next, love triangles often annoy me and this book was no exception. At first, I thought the Prince was okay, and that slowly turned into utter annoyance. I thought he was a melodramatic brat. Then we have Leif, who I grew to like during the duration of the book. The friendship that developed between Leif and Twylla was really nice, but then out of nowhere it turned into something else. The transition between friendship to romance was awkward. And the end. Don’t get me started. I had a moment of extreme outrage. All I can say without completely ruining the whole book is that some things were completely out of character. It seemed like certain things were thrown in for extra drama and to make the love triangle more of a triangle.
As I said earlier, Twylla did absolutely nothing until the last thirty or so pages of the book. This resulted in a rushed feeling to have a climax and resolution despite the lack of action throughout the rest of the book. Also, the end seemed a bit of a stretch and somewhat unrelated to the rest of the book. I felt as though the book was 80% exposition. If the first chunk of the book were condensed to the last chunk of the book and vice versa, I think everything could have worked out a lot better.
All in All: This book was a pretty quick and easy read, but I was far from lovestruck with it. I don’t see myself continuing on with this series.
I had high hopes for this one initially but to be honest, most readers have been quite underwhelmed by this one, which is unfortunate. Your complaints about the 'heroine', the romance are ones I've come across in a lot of other reviews, if that makes you feel any better (it probably doesn't lol) and well the plot just sounds like a hot mess to me. I'm sorry that this one ended up being a dud and I hope your next read is/was better :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad I wasn't the only one! Thanks, my next read has been eons better! :D
DeleteI feel you, it's annoying when some scenes and events in the book are contrived. We can tell when it's "convenient" versus when it's organic. Sorry this was a fail, I hope your next read is better.
ReplyDeleteYou put that brilliantly! XD
DeleteThis would not work for me. Pacing is such a big deal for me and I loath a story that drags and then runs through the end. Thanks for the informative review.
ReplyDelete