Debut author Salisbury has served up a tale as ruthless as it is compelling. As a child, Twylla was handpicked by the queen of Lormere to marry her son, after his sister d betrothed es. In addition to being engaged to the prince, Twylla is destined to be Lormere's Sin Eater, and at 17, she now lives permanently in the castle, embodying a goddess. But her powerful role comes with an awful price: Twylla proves her godliness by demonstrating her immunity to morningsbane, a deadly toxin, every month. Owing to the sheer volume of poison in her body, she can kill another human with a single touch, and now the queen employs her as executioner, against her will. For all her privilege, Twylla is a pawn, isolated and despised. As Twylla struggles to unravel complicated allegiances, as well as her own destiny, she is forced to face some unpalatable truths about her beliefs. In Twylla's world, the crosses and double-crosses come fast and often, which keeps the pages quickly turning in this dark fantasy.

Gr 7 Up-Seventeen-year-old Twylla has a gift and a curse as the embodiment of a goddess on Earth: she is worshipped and she can kill men in seconds with the briefest of touches. Twylla's mother is a Sin Eater, one who eats symbolic foods of the deceased person's sins at their grave site; Twylla is set to pursue this path until the Queen of Lormere takes her from her home to become the goddess Daunen Embodied. Every month, the teen ingests a poisonous substance that reinforces her position as the goddess's personification and the kingdom's executioner, and every month Twylla becomes more isolated. Her only hope of escape lies with her future marriage to Lormere's prince, Merek. Possible deliverance comes in the form of a new guard who joins her serviceLief is different from the others. He does not shrink away as his mistress draws near; he engages in conversation with her and asks questions. As the protagonist grows closer to Merek and Lief, she becomes more aware of how truly trapped she is in her role with the Queenand how much she will have to sacrifice to break free. Salisbury's concept is not new: Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me (HarperCollins, 2011) and Kristin Cashore's Graceling (Houghton Harcourt, 2008) have similar heroines with tactile killing powers. However, her luscious world-building and mythology make this fantasy a worthy read. Twylla is strong and sensible, and teen fans of royal intrigue titles will be rooting for her. Amanda C. Buschmann, Atascocita Middle School, Humble, TX

"I am the perfect weapon. I kill with a single touch." That is the tagline on the cover flap of this series opener set in a faraway land called Lormere and centered on the speaker of that line, seventeen-year-old Twylla. Twylla is believed to be the newest incarnation of a magical daughter of the gods whose touch is poisonous to anyone except those in the royal family. Twylla has only known near-complete solitude for over half of her life when a new guard arrives to protect her (or protect others from her) and changes everything she thought she knew.Although there is a little bit of the typical love triangle that has become so frequent in young adult literature, there are enough twists to keep it interesting and fresh. Salisbury keeps the action moving and the plot thickening so the reader is compelled to keep going to see what will happen next. The setting feels like a fantasy novel, but nonfantasy readers will enjoy the book, too. This is an excellent debut and hopefully will be the first in a strong new series.Kate Neff.