Mundie Moms

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Book Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott


By: Victoria Scott
Published by: Entangled Teen
Released on: April 2nd, 2013
Source: e-arc from author/publisher to review
Series: Dante Walker #1
4 stars: I Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to 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.


A fun fast paced read with the right about of snark, plenty of fun, and told from the point of view from a fresh new voice that teens will enjoy and Moms would lock their daughters in their rooms to keep them away from him. *snickers* Or if you're a Mundie Moms you'll read about him, and still threaten to lock your daughter up if she ever attempts to date a like Dante. Dante Walker is trouble on two legs, and he always gets what he wants. Or maybe that's "he's never failed at his job", well, that is until he meets Charlie. A girl like Charlie should be more than easy for a guy like Dante to persuade, but Charlie isn't a normal girl, and Dante is about to more than he bargained for with her.

Dante, Dante, Dante. I don't even know where to start in talking about him. I'm a bit torn with Dante. Part of me liked him and the other part of me really wanted to love him like I was told I was going to do. Here's the thing about Dante. For me Dante wasn't the romantic, swoon worthy character I thought he was gong to be. I started reading this book thinking that he was going to be, based on what a few friends told me about him. What Dante is, is someone who isn't afraid to speak the truth, he knows what he is and isn't afraid of that. Yes he is extremely sure of himself, which sometimes comes across as egoistical and a bit of jerk, but given he's good at what he does, I almost excepted him to be like this. What I was surprised to discover about Dante is he is a bit of comedian, though I don't think he means to be. His inner monologue is great, and though he does a few stupid things, over all he's a character I did like, though I did want to love him more than I did. I think I could have loved more if he had done some changes earlier on in the story, but at the same time, that would have thrown off the flow of the entire storyline, if he did. In the end, Dante wasn't a dream boat character for me, but he was a fun character I enjoyed reading about.

The thing I admired about about Dante is there is no pretending when it comes to him. What you see is what you get! I liked that about him. It's apart of who he is. It's not like he flaunts his awesomeness or anything, it's just who he is. Well he knows he's hot and awesome and he's not afraid to say it either. Sure he says things that did rub me the wrong way sometimes, but other times he had me laughing, and then there were moments where he was just being a guy. Let's just say he isn't afraid to push the envelope. Dante's point of view was great! I liked the change in pace it gave the story. Huge kudos to Victoria for capturing his voice so well. There aren't a lot of YA books that are from a guy's point of view, and I liked that this is one of the few that felt authentic. One of the things that surprised me about Dante was how much he changes as the story goes along. Yes I had a hard time with how shallow he was at first, and before anyone argues with me on that, yes I do get that some guys get hooked up on looks, and that is a factor in this story.

When Dante first meets Charlie she isn't this hot girl he was hoping for, but the not so popular Charlie becomes something more to him. Charlie is one of those characters who isn't popular, and she isn't a totally wall flower either. She has two really close friends who I might add bring a lot to the storyline. Charlie is a very generous person, and is someone who takes the time to give up. She volunteers, she's fun, has some interesting habits (but who doesn't), and she's a character who has literally been through some tough situations. In a nut shell, she's the complete opposite of Dante, and not the type of girl you'd except a resident bad boy hottie to fall for. Unlike Dante, Charlie has a pure soul, which is what brings her to him. Let's just say with Charlie, Dante gets a whole lot more than he was excepting. Charlie and her friends were much easier for me to relate to than Dante was. Where Dante was interesting to read about, Charlie and her friends give the story it's credibility.

Romance wise, I'm torn. Part of me liked how at first Charlie thought Dante was hot, but was doing things just to be nice to him. I didn't feel it was an insta-love kind of relationship coming from her, and we know right off the bat it's not like that with Dante either (snickers). On the flip side, I felt their relationships was more incomplete than it was rushed. It was missing something, and I can't even tell you exactly what that is. I also felt there were a few minor things that didn't quite add up in the story for me to totally love it, though it was a fun, enjoyable book to read. I needed a little more of an explantation about Charlie's importance in the role of why Dante is there to claim her in the first place, and an explantation on why there's so few Collectors and why all of them are coming after Charlie, and how something at the end changed things.

However, I did love how Victoria paralleled Charlie's changing looks with Dante's changes. I also liked that Charlie isn't a character who is stuck on looks and trends, but how quickly things change for her after Dante bargains with her, though she doesn't understand what she's bargaining for. Overall this is a fun, fast paced read that I did enjoy. I'm curious to see what Dante encounters in this book's sequel! This is a book I'd recommend to older YA readers. There are mentions of sex, and a scene with underage drinking.

What to find out more about Victoria or Dante? Check out my interview with Victoria here.

2 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you enjoyed this one! I recently picked up a copy and am excited to read it. I'm surprised Dante isn't exactly how people are describing him, but he still sounds awesome and swoon-worthy! :-)

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    1. Thank you! Dante is a great character, had I not read him after reading Clockwork Princess I might have found him more how people are describing. Hes still a great character, but he can't compete with Will and Jem....well no one can. LOL

      I hope you enjoy it. I can't wait to hear what you think.

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