Author: Victoria Scott
Series: Dante Walker #1
Publication: March 25th 2013 by Entangled Teen
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Format: Paperback, 352 pages
Cover Rating: 5/5 (HOT DAMN!)
Overal Rating: 4/5
He makes good girls...bad.
Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.
Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:
Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.
Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.
So. I've been eagerly expecting this book for months. Preordered it way months ahead because I wanted to be sure I'd get it. I felt like I needed to know what all the fuss about Dante Walker was. I mean, his name alone screams awesome! So I'm really glad this book and Dante did love up to my expectations.
Dante Walker. Do I have to say more? "He makes good girls... bad." Only that catchphrase alone is enough to make me swoon. This guy is like all of the popular hot, cocky, amazing guys from YA, like Daemon Black, Jace Wayland, Adrian Ivashkov, etc... combined. BUT The Dante is his own character all the same. There's no one like him and I doubt there will ever be one like him again. Like he said in the book, "he's got swag for days". Ain't that the truth!
He's the reason I kept on reading and reading.
I could go on and on about Dante Walker but he's not the only reason why I liked this book so much. You know, I'm usually not at all for angel/demon books. Mostly I really dislike them like say, Hush Hush or Sweet Evil but I really did like The Collector. I love the originality and the idea of Collectors and Liberators. So good! + male point of view will ALWAYS score points with me. I loved it!
I must also say, that it has been a joy reading this because lately with the books I've been reading after a while it turned into a drag but not with The Collector. Victoria Scott's writing was so totally awesome and fastpaced, every time I picked it up I read for a long time and never got bored.
I loved the side characters. My favorites were Max and Valery. Big love for them. And awww the cuteness there. I won't say anything else about it, I don't want to say too much. I probably already did though but just love, man. Love!
But really all of the side characters were great. Even when the story revolved around Dante and Charlie they made it extra cool. And can I just say I loved the way Annabelle and Blue were dressed for Halloween. If you read the book, you'll know what I'm talking about!
The romance was so surprising! I mean, I knew it was coming but I couldn't predict how. Charlie didn't start out as the most beautiful girl ever like most YA girls are. And yet I could slowly see Dante starting to like her more and more. No insta-love here. Thank god!
My favorite thing ever was how you can see Dante slowly changing (for the better). Charlie is so good for him. She brings out the best in him and I love him all the more for how in the he would sacrifice his life for hers. Beautiful romance!
Only slightly negative thing I can say is that I didn't like Charlie from the start. She was too good and pure and I was wondering how in the world Dante would be able to corrupt that girl but when I got to know her better I started to like her more, especially in the end. She got some courage!
So that's why it got 4 stars instead of 5 + I'm still not all to happy about an angel/demon book. I'll probably never will be. But oh well... it was good enough even so.
The end, oh my god the end. One of the best, nerve-wrecking endings ever, I swear! I was totally caught up in the danger and action and there were some serious twists there. Stuff I hadn't seem coming at all. Gotta love that in books! So yeah, I was pretty hooked on this book and Dante.
Can't wait for the next book!
The Collector by Victoria Scott is one amazingly surprising book covered in Awesome Sauce. A hot hero to make all girls melt into puddles of nothing but fangirlness but also lots of action and turn of events to keep the readers on their toes. If I were you I'd keep an eye on Victoria Scott's books. I'm sure this new YA author will dazzle us more in the future with her books.
I spin around and see Max running toward me in a gray Armani shirt. "Dante. Oh, Dante. Seal me! Seal me so hard!" He grabs my hips and pumps his toward mine. "Oh, Dante! You're so hot when you seal souls!"
I shove my idiot-of-a-best-friend off me and laugh.
I have the confidence of a killer whale, but being shot down by these losers stings.
Apparently Big Guy has become the new Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Her quasi-smile blossoms. "I shouldn't be scared," she says, and it sounds like something between a statement and a question.
"You should be terrified," I say. Because I'm going to show you dance moves that'll have you begging for my shit.”
Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe. She's the author of THE COLLECTOR trilogy (Entangled Teen) and the FLOOD AND FIRE trilogy (Scholastic). Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.
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I also loved that quote "Apparently Big Guy has become the new Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." I loved how Victoria Scott incorporated so many things in the book about other books, movies, and other things which are (now) so popular and well known!
ReplyDeleteHappy you liked it and that you're also among the love at first sight with Dante, haha ;)
Florentine @ Readiculously Peachy
I loved the way Dante's character was written him and I use the exact same vocabulary it was actually pretty hilarious. I didn't love this book as much as I originally thought I would though. I hope in the next book Charlie does even more growing (she also kind of bugged me) =)
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