61 pages • 2-hour read
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Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination, sexual violence and harassment, rape, mental illness, child abuse, child sexual abuse, pregnancy loss, death by suicide, suicidal ideation, substance use, addiction, graphic violence, sexual content, cursing, illness, death, physical abuse, and emotional abuse.
Sin ties Elli to a chair and uses a sex toy to force her to orgasm multiple times. He wants to show Elli that she belongs to him and prove that no other man could satisfy her. Meanwhile, Amelia calls, and Sin tells her he will not come to dinner. Sin tells Elli that he does not love Amelia, and warns Elli of the consequences if Chance suspects that she is cheating on him. Ladies who are unfaithful to their husbands are publicly tortured by the Lords. Sin keeps track of Elli’s orgasms by drawing tallies on her chest with a marker.
Ellington
Elli wakes up in the bath and remembers having sex with Sin. She is ashamed that she enjoyed the torture and hoped that pleasing him would make him choose her over Amelia. Kira breaks into the house and finds Elli, who cannot clean off the tallies Sin marked on her body.
Kira confronts Sin and finds him with Chance and Corbin. Kira begs Sin to leave Elli alone, telling him how Amelia showed her and Elli a video of Sin tying Amelia to a bed. Sin denies having sex with Amelia, and Kira says Amelia knew about Lincoln and James. Corbin takes Kira out of the room, and Sin and Chance say nothing.
Sin decides to be more careful with what he says around Amelia. He goes to his father’s office and asks about Carnage, a huge area of land hidden in the mountains that belongs to the Spade brothers. Sin’s father reveals that the Spade brothers are not related; they are a different part of the Lords society. He warns Sin to avoid Carnage, but Sin wants to find a woman with whom the Spade brothers are obsessed. Sin lies, telling his father that he will avoid the Spade brothers. He rejects his father’s invitation to have dinner with Malcolm, Amelia’s father. Sin’s father gives him an invitation to Elli and Chance’s engagement party.
Ellington
Elli gets ready for the engagement party, and Lincoln enters her room. He expects her to thank him. He reveals that he set Sin up with the assignment to kill David, knowing that Sin would delete David’s recordings of Elli in sexual situations. Lincoln forces Elli onto the bed and adds that Sin’s father and Nicholas agreed to arrange for Sin and Elli to get married, and Laura agreed with them. Lincoln convinced Laura to force Elli to marry Chance, arguing that Sin loves Elli too much to control her effectively. Lincoln sexually assaults Elli and leaves. Kira enters as Elli vomits and insists that Elli must be pregnant. Kira thinks Sin loves Elli. Elli says Corbin will hurt Kira, noting that they are both Lords. Kira slaps Elli and leaves.
Kira approaches Sin and Corbin at Elli and Chance’s party, explaining that she thinks Elli is pregnant, which should allow Sin to marry her. Corbin interjects that Sin must decide whether he wants to marry Elli. Kira storms off with Corbin following her. Sin goes to Elli’s room, but she is high and tells him to leave her alone. Sin senses that Elli is different; he watches the recording from his camera in her room, seeing Lincoln assault her. Sin tries to confront Lincoln, but Chance brings him outside, warning him not to ruin their plan. Sin punches Chance, warns him not to let anyone touch Elli, and drives to Blackout. Sin demands another meeting with the Spade brothers, noting the woman he can use as leverage. Tyson says the woman is gone, Sin would be wrong to give her to the brothers, and the brothers do not grant second meetings. The Spade brothers call Tyson and ask him to bring Sin back to Carnage.
Ellington
At the party, Elli sees the man who brought over the papers for Sin and Elli to sign, and considers confronting him. Lincoln grabs Elli and chastises her for taking drugs, seeing that she is high. Chance stops Lincoln from hitting Elli, but Lincoln reminds Chance of their agreement. Chance agrees to let Lincoln sexually assault Elli on the night of Elli and Chance’s wedding, but tells Lincoln not to touch Elli until then. Elli tells Lincoln that he will never be as good as Sin, and Lincoln threatens to cut off the tattoo of Sin’s name on Elli’s back.
Chance brings Elli, who is passed out, to her house, where Sin brings her inside. Chance apologizes to Sin, and Sin tells him to stay away from Elli until the wedding. Inside, Sin undresses Elli and sexually assaults her while she is unconscious, saying he wants her to feel like they had sex even if she will not remember it.
Ellington
Elli wakes up sore and finds Sin, Corbin, and Jayce in the kitchen. Corbin restrains Elli, and Sin takes out a bag of drugs that Elli stashed at her mother’s house. Sin dissolves the drugs in alcohol and lights them on fire, telling Elli she cannot do drugs anymore. Elli rejects Sin’s authority, and Sin explains that he replaced Elli’s birth control pills the first time they had sex in David’s basement. Sin intends to get Elli pregnant to further establish his ownership of her, even if she marries Chance.
Tyson and Sin return to Carnage and meet the Spade brothers. They have a man called Oscar in the room who is bound and looks ill. One of the brothers feeds Oscar steak on a knife, and Oscar cuts his mouth eating the meat from the blade. Oscar thanks the brothers and eats the remaining steak off the ground. Sin assumes Oscar’s presence is a warning, but the brothers offer to help Sin in exchange for something. Sin agrees without knowing what the brothers want, and Tyson groans.
Ellington
Elli takes another pregnancy test, which is negative, and decides to go to a party. She finds Kira’s friend Sarah, who is dating another Lord, Gunner. Gunner asks where Sin is, and Elli says she does not know. Holland, Marcus’s friend, comes over and gives Elli a drink, asking if she wants to do drugs. Elli agrees, and they find Mack in the basement. Mack gives Elli another drink and an ecstasy pill, and Elli takes both. Kira calls, but Elli tells her not to worry, hanging up and turning off her phone. Holland touches Elli’s hips and takes out some cocaine, and Elli agrees to do more drugs.
The Spade brothers agree to help Sin but do not tell him what they want in return. Sin examines a photo from James’s collection in which James is standing by Elli, and he wonders who could have taken the photo. Gunner calls Sin and tells him that Elli is at a party and buying drugs from Holland; Sin tells him to find Elli and protect her. Gunner finds Elli overdosing, and Tyson arranges for a Lords doctor, Gavin, to meet them at Elli’s house. Chance meets them, and he and Sin both get texts from unknown numbers implying that Elli’s loyalty is being tested. Gavin treats Elli, and Tyson pulls Sin out of the room. Sin feels guilty that he was not there to protect Elli.
Ellington
Elli wakes up in a fog and sees Tyson, Chance, and Gavin. She does not remember anything after doing drugs with Holland. Chance empties Elli’s purse, finds the pregnancy tests, and demands to know who Elli is sleeping with. Elli refuses to confess to her affair with Sin and asks why Chance would care, since Chance intends to let Lincoln sleep with her after the wedding. Chance hits Elli and threatens to have all the Lords sexually assault her if Elli does not confess, but Elli still refuses to name Sin.
Chance tells Sin that Elli should be brought to a hospital for monitoring, believing she intentionally overdosed. Sin punches Chance, tells him to move up the date of his wedding to Elli, and kicks him out of the house. Tyson congratulates Sin, saying Elli passed her test of loyalty by refusing to name Sin, adding that Sin can be with Elli now. Gunner and another Lord, Prickett, explain to Sin how Mack gave Elli drugs; Holland claimed the drugs were ecstasy, and another girl reported that the drugs were fentanyl. Gunner and Prickett could not capture Holland because he was surrounded by people. Sin sends everyone away and tends to Elli, worried that he has pushed her too far. Sin calls Gavin when Elli starts vomiting and develops a fever, but Gavin says it is likely just residual drugs in her system. The Spade brothers arrive and bring in a man, telling Sin that he has one week to pay them back, or they will destroy everything.
Ellington
Elli wakes up and feels sick. Sin is there with another man, but Elli cannot see them. She throws up and passes out. When Elli wakes up again, Sin is sleeping next to her, and she goes to the kitchen for water. She sees a man in the room and shouts, and Sin runs out holding a gun. Elli tells him she is hallucinating, but Sin calms her, assuring her that she is alright. The man steps forward and calls Elli “princess.” Elli recognizes him as her father, Nicholas.
Elli is shocked, exclaiming that she witnessed Nicholas’s death. Nicholas explains that he had a twin brother who was shunned by his father. When Nicholas was sent to Carnage, the Lords used his twin brother to frame his death by suicide. Elli calls Nicholas by his first name, and he notes that she used to call him “daddy.” Elli leaves to start a bath, and Sin explains to Nicholas how James sexually abused Elli for years and made her call him “daddy.” He says how Laura blames Elli for the abuse, and Lincoln intends to do the same. Nicholas is furious. Sin notes that he needs to use Nicholas’s anger, adding that he has one week to fulfill his promise to the Spade brothers.
Ellington
Elli sits in the bath and remembers finding her father’s body. Sin joins her. She asks what Sin did to retrieve Nicholas. He does not answer, and Elli mentions Amelia. Sin tells her not to worry about Amelia. Elli gets out of the bath, dries off, and goes to bed, telling Sin to leave. Sin refuses, and they have sex. Elli wants Sin to punish her to prove that he still cares about her, and she thinks she is broken beyond repair.
After having sex with Elli, Sin goes to the kitchen and gives Nicholas some food. Chance calls and reports that he moved up the date of his wedding to Elli, but Sin tells him to call it off. Chance complains that he will look stupid. Sin tells him to claim he does not want to marry Elli because she does drugs. Nicholas says he only has one week before returning to Carnage, but Sin tells him that he will not need to go back. Sin no longer needs Chance because he is going to use Nicholas to get what he wants.
Ellington
Elli finds Nicholas and Sin arguing in the kitchen, but they stop when she enters. They eat breakfast, and Elli asks why they are in her house. Sin explains how Elli overdosed at the party and chastises her for taking unknown substances. Elli says nothing matters, since Sin is marrying Amelia. Sin says that Elli is his wife.
Sin explains that he put a marriage license in the stack of papers Elli signed when she thought they were buying the house. The man was an officiant, and Sin and Elli have been legally married ever since. Sin’s plan was to make Lincoln think Elli married Chance, then Sin would stop Lincoln from assaulting Elli and accuse him of impropriety in front of the Lords. Elli feels betrayed and confesses to Lincoln’s abuse before the party, but Sin already knows about it. Elli slaps Sin, and Nicholas interrupts.
Ellington
Elli does not understand why Sin is executing whatever scheme he has in mind; she is both furious at his betrayal and elated to hear that they are married. Sin was planning to trick Lincoln into a confessional, a ritual punishment for Lords who betray their code. With Nicholas, Sin is shifting his plan. Nicholas says that no one can find out he is alive. Only two people knew about his brother, but he is not willing to expose either of them. Sin is furious, and Elli dismisses Sin and Nicholas, saying that Lords only cover for each other’s wrongdoings.
Nicholas warns Sin about the Lords’ secrecy. Chance calls to report that his wedding to Elli is canceled, and Lincoln and Laura are furious. Sin thanks him, turns around, and sees Nicholas holding the picture of James abusing Elli. Nicholas is disturbed, but Sin does not explain the photo. Nicholas wants to go somewhere with Sin and Elli, and Sin agrees.
Ellington
Elli can tell that Sin and Nicholas are not getting along. Nicholas directs Sin to drive them to a house that looks like it was abandoned years ago. Nicholas guides them into the basement, where he shows them a small mattress stained with sweat and blood. Elli does not recognize anything, but Sin becomes stiff. Sin pulls Elli behind him and points his gun at Nicholas.
Sin recognizes the mattress from the photo of Elli and James, and Nicholas explains that he used to bring women to this house. Elli is shocked that Nicholas had affairs, but Nicholas denies using the basement. Sin and Nicholas reference the photo, which Elli takes from Sin’s pocket. She is disturbed, and Sin says he needs to find out who took the picture. Nicholas claims that Sin’s father took it.
Ellington
Elli denies ever going to the house, but Sin notes the details in the picture. Elli does not know if Sin’s father sexually assaulted her, but she knows that James could have tricked her or taken advantage of her drug use. The idea of Sin’s father assaulting her when she thought she was with James reminds her and Sin of Sin’s decision to have sex with Elli while she was waiting for David. Elli feels violated. Nicholas says that only Laura and Sin’s father knew about his twin brother.
Sin drives Elli and Nicholas back to his and Elli’s house, and Nicholas explains that he and Sin’s father planned for Sin and Elli to get married. Elli is supposed to inherit Asher Corp, a weapons manufacturing company the Asher family has owned for generations. Nicholas suspects that Sin’s father framed Nicholas’s death to acquire the company for himself, which would require declaring Elli unfit to inherit. At the house, Prickett calls Sin to report that Holland is at Blackout, and Sin calls Tyson to warn him that Sin plans to kill Holland. Sin gives Nicholas a gun and tells him to protect Elli, but Sin finds Elli in the shower and cancels his plan. Sin assures Elli that they are going to be together, but he hides the fact that he owes the Spade brothers. They have sex.
After spending two days having sex with Elli, Sin goes to his father’s house, where his father accuses Elli of being reckless, thinking she will end up hurt. Sin lies, claiming that he was on an assignment, and he answers a call from Amelia to make plans to travel with Kira and Corbin. Sin promises to call his father when he returns.
Ellington
Elli is in the kitchen when someone opens the front door. Nicholas left to take care of something, and Elli thinks Sin has returned. She finds Lincoln and Sin’s father, Liam, in the front room. Liam’s presence confirms that he abused Elli, and Elli accuses them of killing her father. Liam says nothing, while Lincoln calls Elli an “addict” and a “whore.” Elli reveals that Nicholas is not dead, but Lincoln does not believe her. Liam denies it, and Elli gets a gun and points it at Lincoln. Lincoln moves forward, and Elli shoots him in the arm, telling them both that she is done being abused.
In the romance genre, the third-act breakup is a device in which the author reveals a conflict, creates a rift between the main characters, or otherwise forces a separation of the romantic interest in order to provide a final challenge to the union. In The Sinner, the third-act breakup is only experienced from Elli’s perspective; Sin is pretending to break up with Elli for the sake of luring Lincoln into believing his plan has worked. Elli and Sin’s breakup is short-lived, culminating in Elli passing the “test” of her loyalty when Chance interrogates her about her involvement with Sin. As with much of The Sinner, the “break-up” relies on Gendered Social Grooming and the Commodification of Women. Elli’s worthiness as an object for the Lords is tested, while neither Chance nor Sin must prove themselves worthy of Elli’s trust and loyalty. Elli justifies her loyalty as an act of dignity, noting: “I will not give up Sin. It’ll make me look stupid. Desperate. He does not deserve my loyalty” (432). Yet her words are precisely the ones that protect Sin and prove her loyalty to him—naming him would have harmed him, since he had vowed celibacy as part of his initiation.
Sin’s schemes rely on Elli as an object, rather than an agent. Tricking her into a marriage contract removes her agency, and uses her as a commodity to be traded. When Sin explains the nature of his plan, it affirms Elli’s objectification. Sin explains that the marriage was intended to “set up Linc” (468), making it so that Lincoln’s advances on Elli would become assaults on another Lord’s property, rather than just the casual sexual violence in which all Lords engage.
Sin continues to treat Elli as an object by removing her from his decision to martyr himself for her. He thinks: “The last thing I need is for her to think I’m leaving. That I’ve made a deal that I can’t go back on. It’s for her. Everything I do is for her, but she won’t understand that” (495). Though Sin claims to act in Elli’s interests, his methods reveal his wrongdoing. He lies, wanting to avoid telling Elli the truth that he is leaving her; he rationalizes that both his lies and his decision to go to Carnage are “for her.” By justifying his actions and claiming she won’t understand, Sin is both infantilizing and objectifying Elli. He is assuming that she is not sufficiently intelligent to grasp the exchanges between Lords, and rejects the idea that Elli has agency in the decisions they make as a couple.



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