Sinner, by Blakely Chorpenning
Hi guys, I hope you’re all keeping safe and well.
Today, I’m reviewing Sinner, by Blakely Chorpenning, a dark fantasy set in Brownsville, Texas, USA.
About:
Alice suffers from nightmares while waking. After a mysterious accident, she begins to need no air and no food. She is changing, but that’s not all: a battle is on. Will Alice be pulled toward evil intent by outside forces, or not? She must decide what she wants her life to be.
Which path will she take, one to further understanding and safety, or one to rebellion and almost certain destruction?
Characters
Alice was a really interesting character. I could relate to her anxiety and loved her sense of humour. Her fear of the dark was well explored and made more sense once the story began to delve deeper into the cause. Her running to keep her loved ones safe was admirable at the same time that it felt like a terrible act. To me, Alice is a walking contradiction that showcases what it really means to be human.
Wolf was, I thought, the main antagonist of the story, at least as far as influencing Alice went. Wolf was deranged- in an overtly sexual way at times and seemed to represent temptation in human form. Her manipulations of Alice were intriguing, especially as Alice seemed to fall for her every word and every trick, despite knowing they were tricks all along.
A favourite character of mine was Gesick. I found him to be funny, caring, and above all mysterious. No matter what happened with Alice, he was always there to support her, which I thought was particularly admirable.
Overall, the range of characters included felt like they all added a little extra something to the story, really fleshing it out.
Likes and Dislikes
I loved how Alice’s personality seeps into the pages, as well as how the progression of the story felt so organic and thrilling, as though her memories were my own and I was simply re-experiencing them in High Definition.
The language used and general expression fascinated me and, along with good tension-building, managed to keep me hooked all the way through.
How Alice distracts herself from her thoughts by reading ingredient labels (some form of OCD) was another thing I could relate to, and this made the story experience even better.
Memorable Quotes
As usual, I couldn’t pick any one quote from such a wonderful piece of work.
I did, however, manage to settle on three.
1) ‘Every sinner has a future and every saint has a past- no-one’s soul is clean.’
2) ‘You have a way of seeing the world. You create a rhythm and cast it over everything.’
3) ‘With every choice comes a ripple effect across countless lives. What are we to do when our waters ripple too far, too fast, consuming everyone around us?’
Each of these three quotes holds a powerful message about life.
No-one is perfect: we all hold secrets, dark thoughts, and mistakes that we must learn from if we are ever to improve upon ourselves.
We see the world however we’ve been taught to see it, but this too we can change if we want to.
Every thought we have and action we take has an underlying meaning and its own consequences.
Overview
Overall, I really enjoyed Sinner. It was a well-executed story, with memorable characters that agonized over their own personal problems, as well as those around them in the world.
My rating: 5 stars.
Recommended for: lovers of dark urban-fantasy, with vampires / the un-dead.
Thank you for joining me for today’s review. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to learn more about Sinner, please visit its Goodreads link HERE.
If you’d like to learn more about author Blakely Chorpenning, please visit her website HERE.
As always, please feel free to leave a comment below, or to share this post across social media.
Have a wonderful week. Please be safe.
Ellie. xoxo
