Blog Tour Book Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott

Welcome to The Book Vixen’s stop on the 2013 Belongs to Dante blog event hosted by YA Bound. Here’s my review of The Collector by Victoria Scott:

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Title: The Collector
Series: Dante Walker, Book 1
Author: Victoria Scott
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Sensuality Rating: Innocent
Source: YA Bound (for blog tour)
Published: April 2, 2013 by Entangled Teen

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.

Why I Read this Book: I love me a bad boy and I was curious to see this bad boy would turn good.

What I Liked: This was an interesting story – Dante handing out seals and collecting souls. What I really enjoyed was Dante questioning his duty and why he’s doing what he’s doing. There is a hint at what is to come, something BIG, which will probably come in the next book in the series and possibly span over more than one additional book.

The secondary characters really shined through. For me, this wasn’t just a story solely about Dante and Charlie. Annabelle, Blue, Max, and Valery were as much part of the story as the two leads. I liked Max and Valery best.

What I Didn’t Like: I had a difficult time liking Dante; he was too arrogant and cocky. He really wasn’t in my good graces until the very end. Dante attempted to corrupt Charlie at every chance. I get that that is his job but it made it difficult for me to like him and relate to him and what he was going through.

The Collector is told in first person narration, present tense, and now I totally get why some readers don’t like this type of narration. Dante’s narration was like being inside of a teenaged girl’s brain – too much internal dialogue and he over-analyzed every single detail.

I was left with some unanswered questions, like why was Dante banished to Hell in the first place?

Memorable Moments:

There are twelve seals on her soul. Only twelve. Great, I’ve come to collect Mother Teresa.

I throw my head back and laugh long and hard. Then I lean in and whisper in her eat, “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, princess. Ain’t no one do bad like I do.”

Overall Impression: While I enjoyed reading The Collector, it didn’t blow me away. It had an interesting premise but it took a while for me to get into the story.

Brianna’s Rating:

 

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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.

 

 

Find the author online: website | blog | goodreads | twitter | facebook

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Victoria Scott is giving away her personal Nook Color! Enter to win in the Rafflecopter form below. Note: This giveaway is being sponsored by Victoria Scott. The Book Vixen is not responsible for notifying the winner or the delivery of the prize. See Terms & Conditions on Rafflecopter form for more details. Good luck to all who enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out the rest of the blog tour schedule.