Review: Sin Eater

Sin Eater by P.K. Tyler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sin Eater is a dark and gritty novel, exactly the kind of novel I love to read.

Honestly, the warning that comes with this book is well placed. It is very far from those sweet paranormal reads where love conquers all. There are no rainbows and butterflies. We’re without the unicorns and glitter. This is taking us back to the dark ages of fantasy. Do you remember when everyone loved those really dark horror movies with the demons and the angels at loggerheads? Those movies where everything was dark – not just the storyline and characters, but the actual filming because there was never any light in the world. Well, this novel very much reminds me of those movies – and boy did I love those movies. This one was right up my street, exactly what I needed to read.

Sin Eater began life as a serial novel – the kind of novel I’m not crazy about reading. I prefer it when I can jump right into a completed story, hence why I was so happy to jump into the concluded story. Be forewarned, though, this isn’t the end. This isn’t a standalone novel – there is to be more. I’m not sure when that will be, but I am already eagerly anticipating the story. As I was getting towards the end of the story, I was thinking ‘there is no way everything will be wrapped up’, and I was not mistaken. There are plenty of things I need answers to, many reasons why I will be jumping into the second part of this story. I need it so badly; it’s almost unbelievable.

You see, Sin Eater is a story built up of many components. It’s one of those stories that does require a bit of brainpower. Not in the sense that it is overly complex, just that there is a lot to it. It is more than a simple tale of demons upon earth: there are many new and interesting aspects.

The first of these that we are introduced to is the life of a Sin Eater. Straight away, I was pulled into the Sin Eater storyline: it was something new, something that left me wanting more. Top marks instantly for this creative new take on the demon world. As the story progressed, this aspect of the story grew, giving us more. We slowly found out more and more about the Sin Eater world, and I found my initial love for it only grew. It went beyond being a single element aspect of life, to having many more components that left me adoring this new addition to the dark fantasy world.

It’s not just the life of the Sin Eater that is interesting, though. There are so many elements of hidden societies and twisted histories thrown into this story. We have the usual battle of the church against an outsider group, and whilst this happens quite often, I found myself really enjoying the way it was done in this one. There was more to it than you would believe, with this being another element of the story that grew beyond the proportions you would normally expect.

It’s not simply the world building that is wonderful; the characters are also a lot of fun. The angst – oh, gosh, do not get me started on the angst! It was brilliant. It was the perfect level of emotional turmoil without being annoying. You really felt for the characters and the issues they were dealing with. You couldn’t help but fall in love with them. You spent so long hoping for the best, whilst fearful of the worst. It’s truly wonderful when such a thing happens. Quite often with angst-ridden storylines and characters, I find I’m either annoyed very quickly or I know what the outcome will be – with this one, I was left guessing for so long. I really did fear the outcome of the interactions between characters.

Honestly, this was a brilliant read. I had so much fun with it. It’s exactly what a dark and gritty paranormal novel should be. It has a bit of everything, and by the end you’re left wanting more. If you enjoy these kinds of novels, it’s certainly worth picking up and jumping in.

I admit, it wasn’t quite perfect – hence the four stars instead of the five. There were some editing issues that distracted me a bit, and although this isn’t the end of the world, I am overly picky when handing out my five stars. Nevertheless, this is a very strong four star read.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the next segment of the story!

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