I don't recall how I came across this book, might have been included with a group of books a friend sent. Either way, the story synopsis didn't sound bad so I stated into it. Overall the story was a bit shorter than I expected, as I finished it in just a few hours. I would say it falls in my genre of reading (Fantasy/Urban Fantasy) and I loved the idea behind a type of people that go around collecting sins from regular humans.

A couple issues I had while reading, and this may include some spoilers.

One, the main character (female) though is supposed to be aged around 100 years give or take, acted/reacted to everything like a teenager. She is 'locked' in her physical form at age 20, so I don't know if we are supposed to blame this on hormones that are locked in at that age. These quivery/giggly teenager moments she has whenever a guy appears in the story.... sigh. Yet there is one quick sex scene than thankfully doesn't get very descriptive - I don't care to read about sex scenes.

Second, when do we get to hear more of the collecting of sin? There was one scene where the main character did what she was trained to do, and supposedly had done for over half the years she has been around. Also, no one else was doing it. Yet there are many (guessing since it isn't really talked about) people that live this way.

Third, the ending was a bit disturbing. The guy she has been all googly about throughout the story is now out of the story (I won't say why), and now she gets together with the guy that was her 'trainer', who took her from the orphanage at a young age, and until the age of 20 was like a father figure to her. Whoaaaa.... so not cool. For this alone I would not want to classify this as YA, though it certainly seemed to aimed to that group of readers.

I noticed that there is a second book available, that per its description, seems to possibility go back and cover more about the actual sin collecting, but it doesn't look like it would be a continuation of this book - more like a prequel. Though my few thoughts on the short-comings here, I may pick up the next book, just because it piques my interest. ( )

Wonderful characters, quotable dialogue and a terrific sense of humor. This was a refreshing change from the usual paranormal fiction I read. Well done, Jess! Where's part 2?!?!?! ( )

I don't normally mention this in a review, but I can't help stating this fact: I really love this cover. As you can see it's fairly simple in the sense that it's only various shades of grey and black. I think this is what draws me to the image every time I see it. The way the black corners fade from the grey is beautiful. When I stare long enough at it, the cover looks to be in motion. But I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. I gave it the rating I did for a reason. The reason was what is held between the covers.

What I really enjoyed from this book was the mythology behind the sin collectors, or Sin-eaters as they are also known. The concept that there are immortals roaming earth whose purpose is to remove the sins from a soul before it leaves a dying body was interesting. I was torn between finding this to be a good thing and that this could be too easy of a way out for heavy sinners. Lily mentions that she has performed the ritual on some utterly vile human beings.

What left me a bit disappointed was that there wasn't much of a history established for the sin collectors. It's true that even these beings have their own speculations about where they came from and why they were made. This doesn't take away from the book in the least. I think my yearning to know more about the collectors made me enjoy the story more. It also may have helped me sympathize with the collectors' own questions about their origins.

Enough about that though. You want to hear about the story itself, I'm sure. I was hooked early on and fell in love with some of the characters right away. One of them was George. He's an 87 year old widower who visits Lily at the library daily. He added some light to her long life and I enjoyed reading their conversations. I almost wish there were more of them.

Another character I enjoyed was one we meet later on, Rebecca. All I can say about her is that she's an ancient collector and very mysterious. I wish it could tell you more about her, but without spoiling anything and the addition of her reclusive nature I can't say much. With the little hints into her character that we got, I wanted to see more.

There were many themes touched on throughout the book. What should be focused on is one's part in the world, be it in a family, a place, or a "profession." The collectors tend to question their purpose in life. Why do they collect; what will become of them if they do get killed; etc. Most all collectors lead a solitary life because they physically can't survive being very close to the sins held within other collectors. When a way around is found, these questions start to get asked more and more often. I liked that the book focused on themes such as these but didn't make the reader stumble when they showed themselves in the reading. There was a smooth mix of story and "philosophical thought" that blended perfectly.

A final little bit I'll discuss is the ending. This won't be a spoiler so don't worry. It ended, and leads to the next in the trilogy. That's great. The way it ended was a big surprise to me. The reader and Lily were lead to doubt some of the characters until the very end. I couldn't figure out who I trusted more, and that's a hard thing to accomplish. I've been discovering a good amount of novels recently that have great unpredictable twists to them and The Sin Collector has joined those ranks.

Overall this story was a fast-paced read with a number of great characters, unpredictable plot turns, and a great mythology. I now want to go read some of the real world myths about sin-eaters to maybe satisfy my craving for the next installment of The Sin Collector Trilogy. ( )

*Received e-book through the Authors Requesting Reviews (ARR) program on Goodreads for an honest review
**Also posted on Amazon.com under Leanne

The Sin Collector is told by the point-of-view of Liliana “Lili” Genov, a nearly immortal being who has been trained to absorb sins from humans, usually before death. After abandoning those duties since WWII and living a quiet life as a librarian, she encounters an old sin collector friend, William (Billy). Billy surprises her by telling her he has never collected sins and she makes a choice to journey with him to Ireland to see others like him. At the same time, she finds her boss murdered and may be running from a sinister organization called the Castus, whose members kill sin collectors, believing they are abominations. As Lili travels with William, she encounters sin collectors being murdered, other sin collectors being hunted and banding together, and perhaps even a traitor among them working with the Castus. She must discover the truth before she is their next victim.

I adored the character of Lili. Fortunato, through witty monologues and vivid descriptions, establishes a connection with Lili from the first chapter. I felt sorry for her self-imposed isolation and her lack of direction, but loved her plucky, somewhat snarky personality. In addition, I liked the re-kindling of her friendship with Billy and the intimacy that developed between them. At the same time, I especially liked how Fortunato kept Billy’s character mysterious enough to create tension within the plot, as well as with the arrival of Lili’s long-lost mentor, Olexander. The hostility between him and Billy was palpable as Lili questioned both their motives and agenda.

On the other hand, I did have an issue with the lack of detail in the book. I was looking forward to reading more about the act of sin collecting itself, as well as the advent/creation of sin collectors. This was somewhat glazed over and resulted in confusion about Lili’s initial identification as a sin collector and the rituals she performs. This was a little disappointing as Fortunato based the novel on this rather unique premise and I think she missed an opportunity to enhance her world-building.

Overall, The Sin Collector was a fast-paced, enjoyable read. Fortunato set the foundation for future novels in this series well, and I would like to see more aspects of the sin collectors unfold. I would recommend this book to fans of YA paranormal fiction. ( )

I don’t normally mention this in a review, but I can’t help stating this fact: I really love this cover. As you can see it’s fairly simple in the sense that it’s only various shades of grey and black. I think this is what draws me to the image every time I see it. The way the black corners fade from the grey is beautiful. When I stare long enough at it, the cover looks to be in motion. But I’m not one to judge a book by its cover. I gave it the rating I did for a reason. The reason was what is held between the covers.

What I really enjoyed from this book was the mythology behind the sin collectors, or Sin-eaters as they are also known. The concept that there are immortals roaming earth whose purpose is to remove the sins from a soul before it leaves a dying body was interesting. I was torn between finding this to be a good thing and that this could be too easy of a way out for heavy sinners. Lily mentions that she has performed the ritual on some utterly vile human beings.

What left me a bit disappointed was that there wasn’t much of a history established for the sin collectors. It’s true that even these beings have their own speculations about where they came from and why they were made. This doesn’t take away from the book in the least. I think my yearning to know more about the collectors made me enjoy the story more. It also may have helped me sympathize with the collectors’ own questions about their origins.

Enough about that though. You want to hear about the story itself, I’m sure. I was hooked early on and fell in love with some of the characters right away. One of them was George. He’s an 87 year old widower who visits Lily at the library daily. He added some light to her long life and I enjoyed reading their conversations. I almost wish there were more of them.

Another character I enjoyed was one we meet later on, Rebecca. All I can say about her is that she’s an ancient collector and very mysterious. I wish it could tell you more about her, but without spoiling anything and the addition of her reclusive nature I can’t say much. With the little hints into her character that we got, I wanted to see more.

There were many themes touched on throughout the book. What should be focused on is one’s part in the world, be it in a family, a place, or a “profession.” The collectors tend to question their purpose in life. Why do they collect; what will become of them if they do get killed; etc. Most all collectors lead a solitary life because they physically can’t survive being very close to the sins held within other collectors. When a way around is found, these questions start to get asked more and more often. I liked that the book focused on themes such as these but didn’t make the reader stumble when they showed themselves in the reading. There was a smooth mix of story and “philosophical thought” that blended perfectly.

A final little bit I’ll discuss is the ending. This won’t be a spoiler so don’t worry. It ended, and leads to the next in the trilogy. That’s great. The way it ended was a big surprise to me. The reader and Lily were lead to doubt some of the characters until the very end. I couldn’t figure out who I trusted more, and that’s a hard thing to accomplish. I’ve been discovering a good amount of novels recently that have great unpredictable twists to them and The Sin Collector has joined those ranks.

Overall this story was a fast-paced read with a number of great characters, unpredictable plot turns, and a great mythology. I now want to go read some of the real world myths about sin-eaters to maybe satisfy my craving for the next installment of The Sin Collector Trilogy. ( )