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The Collector of Dying Breaths: A novel of Suspense (Reincarnationists #6)

By: M.J. Rose

Released: April 8th, 2014 by Atria Books

Length: 384 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction- 16th Century France/Italy Catherine de Medici

Rating: 3 Stars

Acquired: via netgalley

Past: 1500’s Rene le Florentin is chosen as Catherine de Medici’s perfumer at just the right time- he is about to be killed for a crime he didn’t commit. She rescues him, sending him to France with her as she becomes a Princess then a Queen. Through the years, their relationship develops and it’s not just perfumes he creates for her and her girls–her spies. In the meantime, he is experimenting on his own, trying to finish what he started with his mentor, how to reincarnate a body with a dying breath.

Present: In France, mythologist Jac E’toile of the famous E’toile perfumery just lost her brother, her only family to mysterious circumstances.No one knows how he got so sick so suddenly. He was fine weeks, maybe even days before. Then Jac gets a call to meet with a woman who Robbie was working on something with– the collection of dying breaths owned by Rene le Florentin. Jac is taken on a strange journey as she works to solve the formula and discover the truth about her brother’s death. All while having flashbacks of Rene le Florentin. 

Before I go into critiquing this novel, let me first state that I liked the book. I didn’t love it, no. It took me a bit to get into it. But, I liked it. Rene le Florentin was a great character. His life was very interesting; I would read another book about his life in an instant. He held my attention. His relationship with Catherine de Medici was both nefarious and familial. I liked the chemistry they had together. They had a clear connection that translated well on the page. The historical aspect of the novel were fascinating. Learning about how Queen Catherine conducted herself was shocking and made me keep reading. The idea of reincarnation and the dying breaths was also intriguing. My problems with the book started in the present.

How can I put this lightly? The present was dull. Yes, many things happened. There was action all the time. There was a character who belonged in a mental institution in my opinion; and, I would never say that lightly. She was truly scary and psychotic. If you read some of the things she did, you would agree. With all the action and everything, it was still dull. Why? Because Jac was a terrible protagonist. She was boring, two dimensional if that. She whined a lot. And, didn’t bring much to the table. I often wanted to skip her parts, but I liked when she would have visions of Rene as she had these reincarnation abilities; she could lock into her past lives. That sounds exciting, right? But, she hates it so much that she completely down plays it. It becomes something so negative. And she tries to stop them from happening all the time.

She made me want more Rene. He was exciting. There were many graphic sex scenes in his time period. Oh my were they graphic. He loved sex. Loved loved loved sex. He was a former monk. Imagine how different the story would be if he stayed one! If the book was all about Rene and his discoveries, the book would get a much higher rating. But, since Jac took precedence in the novel, I can only say I liked it. Would I recommend it? Yes. Just for Rene. Maybe for Jac a little bit because things really do get crazy. Really crazy really slow then really fast. I wanted to love this book. I was so looking forward to it. But, unfortunately it fell a little flat. It wasn’t necessarily the writing. I enjoyed Rose’s writing style. It was more her characters.

If you are looking for a historical, slightly paranormal, mystery with the present thrown in, this is it. The mystery is there. The historical fiction factor is great. It’s entertaining and what you expect. Or, more what you normally want out of historical fiction novels. You can overlook the Present part. Read it, but read it lightly. It’s the 1500’s that’s really got the juice.