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A review by designatedbanana
Original Sins by Erin Young
4.0
**I read this as an ARC**
This story is the sequel to The Fields, you do not have to read the first novel to enjoy this one but it will provide more context on the characters’ history and interpersonal relationships as the events of that book are occasionally referenced.
If you like a classic police procedural story this is a fantastic feminist take on it. The author clearly drew inspiration from genre classics; the religious motifs redolent of John Doe from Se7en. The tattoo and snake motifs call to mind Francis Dolarhyde of Red Dragon. And of course the main character’s cleverness, perseverance, and unique feminine point of view is reminiscent of the beloved Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs.
The book takes a deep dive into the feminist movement from multiple angles, from those pushing for equality to those vehemently against it. Riley Fisher stands in the middle of this seeking justice for the women that have been targeted, trying to put a stop to the serial attacks on women at the hands of the “Sin Eater”, and pushing back against the oppressive roles that seek to undermine her as well. You can feel the author’s anger around this subject seeping out of every page. She does a wonderful job talking about the real horrors all women face on a daily basis, even citing gut wrenching statistics at times. While also constructing a larger terrifying story that sadly doesn’t seem that grandiose in comparison to what we see on the news.
The book is also wildly enthralling, the story is hard to not get sucked into. I am very picky with thrillers because authors can get lost in trying to create twist upon twist to make their book stand out, but it inevitably takes away from the story. This author thankfully did not fall into that. She packed in some interesting twists while relying more heavily on the tension build up by providing many different points of view. She clearly worked hard to build her characters and create a compelling storyline, this reads much more like a classic detective novel than the click-baity thrillers that are so common nowadays.
I specifically listened to this as an audiobook, Kate Hanford (please forgive me if that is spelled wrong, I couldn’t find her name in the written credits) and she did a wonderful job! She took on the perfect accents for these characters and overall read beautifully, I would highly recommend the audiobook.
This story is the sequel to The Fields, you do not have to read the first novel to enjoy this one but it will provide more context on the characters’ history and interpersonal relationships as the events of that book are occasionally referenced.
If you like a classic police procedural story this is a fantastic feminist take on it. The author clearly drew inspiration from genre classics; the religious motifs redolent of John Doe from Se7en. The tattoo and snake motifs call to mind Francis Dolarhyde of Red Dragon. And of course the main character’s cleverness, perseverance, and unique feminine point of view is reminiscent of the beloved Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs.
The book takes a deep dive into the feminist movement from multiple angles, from those pushing for equality to those vehemently against it. Riley Fisher stands in the middle of this seeking justice for the women that have been targeted, trying to put a stop to the serial attacks on women at the hands of the “Sin Eater”, and pushing back against the oppressive roles that seek to undermine her as well. You can feel the author’s anger around this subject seeping out of every page. She does a wonderful job talking about the real horrors all women face on a daily basis, even citing gut wrenching statistics at times. While also constructing a larger terrifying story that sadly doesn’t seem that grandiose in comparison to what we see on the news.
The book is also wildly enthralling, the story is hard to not get sucked into. I am very picky with thrillers because authors can get lost in trying to create twist upon twist to make their book stand out, but it inevitably takes away from the story. This author thankfully did not fall into that. She packed in some interesting twists while relying more heavily on the tension build up by providing many different points of view. She clearly worked hard to build her characters and create a compelling storyline, this reads much more like a classic detective novel than the click-baity thrillers that are so common nowadays.
I specifically listened to this as an audiobook, Kate Hanford (please forgive me if that is spelled wrong, I couldn’t find her name in the written credits) and she did a wonderful job! She took on the perfect accents for these characters and overall read beautifully, I would highly recommend the audiobook.