Sin Eater by Megan Campisi was an interesting read with a unique premise. The book is based around the idea of a sin eater, who is an individual (usually a woman) who listens to the sins of the town and for their sins eats specific foods to take on those sins and relieve the sinner. The sin eater will then take these sins to their death and be judged when they meet the maker. The sin eater is not seen by anybody, they are not allowed to talk to anybody they are shunned from society. They are an outcast and pariah.

In Campisi's novel she takes a young girl who becomes apprenticed to the older sin eater after she is thrown in prison. However, when the older sin eater refuses to eat for a specific sin, the duty falls to the young and newer sin eater to eat the sin and uncover the mystery behind this sin. This novel combines historical fiction and mystery as the young sin eater struggles to come to terms with her new role, her new identity, her past and uncover the truth.

My biggest problem with the book was that Campisi lifted her entire royal family structure from Henry VIII and the tudors. The king had had six wives, two of which were killed, one was a plain Jane (Anne of Cleves), and the last one Queen Katryna outlived the king and married a Baron Seymaur. Henry's last wife, Katherine also married Lord Seymour.

Lord Seymour was accused of having an affair with Elizabeth and Baron Seymaur gets Queen Bethany pregnant

. One of his wives has a daughter Bethany, who is known for persecuting those that do no follow her religion. This again follows the idea of the Elizabeth or Mary's reign of persecuting Catholics/Protestants for their faith. This irritated me because I love Tudor England and Tudor history and because the whole story felt lazy. I feel like it would have been so much easier for Campisi to change the numbers or names further, rather than drawing on real history so much.

The actual plot and mystery was really solid, and I read this as a buddy read so I really enjoyed the slow unveil after each set of five chapters of a new plot twists and a new piece of information to discuss. I think the plot was clever in what it attempted and how it all connected together. However, I think this was again spoiled by the historical connection for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel and thought that it was a solid read that individuals who haven't studied Tudor England would definitely enjoy more. I think it had interesting ideas and a strong premise that just didn't quite work for me in its entirety.

Thanks to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for the eArc .