Welcome to my stop of the 2013 Belongs to Dante blog tour! I'm honored to be a part of this tour, especially on the official release day! To discover more about the tour, click HERE.
The Collector by Victoria Scott
Book One of the Dante Walker series
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: April 2, 2013
Rating: 4 stars
Source: eARC from publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
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.
What I Liked:
I really, really enjoyed this book! Not that I didn't think I would. I've got Dante PLASTERED all over my blog. See taht left sidebar? Yep - that's me - the crazy #VMafia girl. I knew I would like this book without having read it - and I did!
Dante Walker IS flippin' awesome. I love that this book is in his point-of-view, and not Charlie's, or in third person. There aren't enough good YA books in first-person male point-of-view. And he is so interesting! His thought processes are so unique, and I suppose that's because he is so fantastic, right? :D
Charlie is an amazing foil to Dante. In the beginning, all we see in her is a not-so-pretty, self-conscious teenage girl. BUT, she isn't any of those things, as Dante comes to realize. Charlie does some growing up throughout this book, though not much. Really, it's Dante that undergoes a ton of character development.
The secondary characters, Annabelle, Blue, Grams, and Max, are all so PERFECT for this book! Meaning, they fit the book so well, because Victoria did an excellent job incorporating them into the story. I loved each and every one of them (though I constantly thought Blue was a bad guy), and I really hope they make some generous appearances in the nice book (with the exception of one of those four).
The ending is KILLER (errr, no pun intended... not really. You figure it out). I seriously did NOT expect the ending. We find out who the bad guy is, someone I really did not expect, as he is mentioned, like, ONCE, and in passing, basically. There are deaths. Just saying.
But the ending is happy! I hope that's not a spoiler, as the statement itself is very general, but seriously. Don't NOT read this book because you think the ending is not a good one. It's a nice ending. And I can see the segue to The Liberator. Prepare yourselves...
What I Did Not Like:
Hmm. There were several places of the book where I simply had to put my Kindle down and take a step back, and for one primary reason:
I was bored.
It takes quite a bit to bore me. I'm generally one of those readers that MUST FINISH what they start (not that I was ever in danger of not finishing this book). Nevertheless, there were several scenes, about halfway through the book and up until the climax, that I was metaphorically stifling yawns.
But I kept going, because I had no intentions of NOT finishing. The ending is a good one!
Would I Recommend It:
Yes! I think the majority of people who read this book will really like Dante and Charlie, and all of the other characters in the book. It is an excellent debut novel, and I cannot wait to see what else Victoria Scott has for us. You're on my auto-buy list, Victoria!
Rating:
4 stars. I really enjoyed this book, and cannot wait for more! You KNOW I'm pre-ordering The Liberator. And The Liberator comes out in August!
Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!
Check out The Liberator!
The Liberator by Victoria Scott
Book Two of the Dante Walker series
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Summary (from Goodreads)
Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn't like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.
When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.
With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.
About the Author:
I'm a YA writer represented by Laurie McLean. Author of THE COLLECTOR (Entangled Teen, April 2013) and THE BRIMSTONE BLEED (Scholastic, 2014). I have a master's degree in marketing, and live in Dallas with my husband. When not writing, I can be found munching cotton candy and snuggling obese cats.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Dante’s Website
The Giveaway (tour wide):
can't wait to read dante series...
ReplyDeletethx u for the chance...
I got approved for an egalley of this yesterday. Have heard great things. Off to read it! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI'm dying to read The Collector! Added to my tbr list already! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to read The Collector too. I do enjoy a good story told from the H's POV. I agree that it seems like there are many, many more YA books with a female POV, but some excellent titles do have a first-person male narrator. Here are a few really great ones:
ReplyDeleteThe Caster Chronicles (Beautiful Creatures, et. al.) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (One of my fav series--still haven't read Beautiful Redemption b/c I'm sad it'll be over)
Where She Went by Gayle Foreman (LOVE THIS!)
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (underrated)
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa (Ash)
The Giver by Lois Lowry (one of my all-time favs)
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (fun series)
These are just the ones that came off the top of my head. I know there are many more that I haven't personally read or that just didn't occur to me : )
The Dante series looks so good. My wish list just got longer.
ReplyDeleteI love when I find YA books that I know my daughters would love to read that normally aren't in their normal paths of finding books. Thank you :) series sounds amazing :)
ReplyDeleteclassy_mommie@yahoo.com
Thanks for the honest review! I have been looking forward to reading this, spurred on mostly by the hype - yes, all that advertising got its hooks into me!! When I started reading reviews recently, though, I admit I was pretty surprised to hear just what a D-bag this Dante seems to be, which REALLY makes me wary and has me wondering if I actually want to read this. HOWEVER, a number of lovely ladies such as yourself whose reviews I follow have still given it between 3.5-5 stars, so... I think I'm still gonna give it a chance! Not sure if Dante can win ME over, but we'll see... :) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteomggg i hope i win.
ReplyDeleteExcited to read The Collector!:)
ReplyDeleteI love your reviews. Thank you for putting them out there
ReplyDelete