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The Warrior by Victoria Scott
Book Three of the Dante Walker series
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: May 6, 2014
Rating: 4 stars
Source: eARC provided for the blog tour
Summary (from Goodreads):
War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.
Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.
Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith.
What I Liked:
Wow. Another series over! 2014 seems to be the year that I finish series, which is a good thing. I tend to start series, and not finish them. I'm so glad I had the chance to read this particular set of books. Victoria Scott has such a unique writing style, filled with humor and plenty of teenage voice.
Dante has a lot on his plate - with Aspen stuck in hell, Kraven behind everyone for training, and cracking an encrypted message. Blue blames Dante for leaving Aspen in hell, even though Dante didn't exactly try to leave her there - she stayed. A lot is riding on that encrypted message, as well as Charlie and Aspen's role in bringing about peace on Earth. How will things shake out? I guess you'll have to read this book to find out...
I'm going to keep this review kind of short and vague, because I don't want to spoil anything. But basically, this is a great conclusion novel. You know how I'm always scared of reading conclusion novels, because they tend to be super sad and bittersweet and scary to read? Well, I jumped into this one with two feet - I wasn't too worried about a bittersweet ending. It just didn't seem like Scott's style - and I was right. The ending, as well as the book overall, is pretty positive. I mean, a good portion of this book is gloom and doom, because Aspen is in hell, but you just know things can't stay like that.
There are new characters, there are old characters, and then there are old characters who are brought into the spotlight on a more personal level. I like what Scott did with Annabelle, the Quiet Sisters (I think that's what they're called?), Kraven, Blue, Max. Everyone's roles seem more important, more crucial. The cast of characters in general is pretty likable and fabulous, in my opinion. Scott has a way of introducing characters and giving them unique and fresh voices.
I love Scott's writing style. There is so much humor to this book (and series), despite everything being about war and death and collectors and liberators and the balance of good and bad things. Dante is soooo funny - his inner monologue is really entertaining.
The romance is clean (meaning, no love triangle) - thank goodness. I can't stand love triangles. Throughout this entire series, there is NO LOVE TRIANGLE. Yay for that! Also, I like how Scott brought romance to several other characters - I definitely didn't see some of them. Heh.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with this series. I'm not saying it's my all-time favorite series and I'll be reading it forever and ever, but I'm so glad that I got to read these books. I'll definitely be continuing to read Scott's books, followed next by Salt & Stone! Out in 2015. Yay for that!
What I Did Not Like:
I really can't think of too much for this section... at times, the story dragged a wee bit. Also, I feel like not a lot of BIG things happened, but maybe that's why the story dragged a bit? Like, the climax could have taken place from the very beginning of this book. But it didn't, so the story seemed a little stretched out.
Would I Recommend It:
I would definitely recommend you read this book, if you've read books one and two, or even just book one. It's a satisfying, intriguing paranormal series, and while I'm not in the habit of reading paranormal novels, I wasn't going to miss this one. As a series, I would recommend the books! Especially if you enjoy paranormal books. Especially if you like humorous books. Especially if you like reading from a guy's point-of-view.
Rating:
4 stars. What a finale! It wasn't heartbreaking or bittersweet, like many series conclusions tend to be. I'm glad for that - I hate bittersweet endings. Tragic endings can be okay. But bittersweet - a little bit of both? Nah. Thank you, Victoria Scott, for NOT writing a bittersweet ending!
Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!
About the Author:
Victoria Scott is a teen fiction writer represented by Sara Crowe of the Harvey-Klinger Literary Agency. She’s the author of the FIRE & FLOOD series published by Scholastic, and the DANTE WALKER trilogy published by Entangled Teen. Her books have been bought and translated in eleven foreign markets including the UK, Turkey, China, Poland, Israel, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.
Victoria lives in Dallas with her husband and hearts cotton candy something fierce.
Check out the first two books in the series!
The Giveaway:
I agree with you, Alyssa! There was so much training and squirmishes when the battle could have be fought much earlier, but still it was a very fun book to read, and Dante grew up as a character without losing his charm (even if I find him a bit obnoxious at times!!).
ReplyDeleteGreat review! YAY for finishing series!
I definitely think it was a fun read! And a fun series overall. It was really great that Dante was still Dante by the end of the series, even though he did develop quite a bit. Thank you, Pili!
DeleteI agree with you, it was a great ending to a great series. I'm going to miss Dante :)
ReplyDeleteYay I feel like solid endings are harder to find nowadays, so I'm glad that this series ends well :) I saw another person review this just earlier, and they also really like it, so I think this is a sign that I should maybe finally start this series!
ReplyDelete