Thursday, April 4, 2013

2013 Belongs To Dante ♥ Review of The Collector by Victoria Scott!

Hey, y'all! Welcome to my stop on the 2013 Belongs to Dante blog event! Don't even get me STARTED on how pumped I am to be included in this. You will never hear the end of it, trust me. To see all the other lucky ducks on this tour, click HERE! There's a schedule there and everything. Mighty handy, if you ask me. :)
 
Okay, so. I HAVE A REVIEW! Finally. I've been promising this for forever, right? Geez.
 
The Collector by Victoria Scott
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Format: ebook, 352 pages
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Series: Dante Walker #1
Source: Publisher for blog tour
Buy It: Amazon | B&N
 
Description 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.

 
It is no secret that I have been drooling over this book since the moment I laid eyes on the cover. And then after that, I read the description and I wanted it a bit more. THEN I read a teaser, and wanted it more. And more and more and more things just kept adding up to make me want this book SO. BAD. I seriously wanted to read this book more than any other book before. Possibly even more than Obsidian. If not, then they're tied. I'm not sure. Either way, I've been dying for this book. But then, I got put on the blog tour. And on March 1st, my pretty little eARC appeared in my inbox and I think I lost all sanity for a few minutes. Um, yeah. I freaked OUT.

It was awesome.

Both my freak out AND the book, that is. (Smooth transition, eh?)

The Collector is the kind of book that is 100% worth everything it's getting. It's worth my freak out, it's worth the hype, and it's worth the love. Victoria Scott has written a PHENOMINAL story that is the literal definition of "unputdownable." I'm telling you right now, if you've been anticipating this book since...goodness, FOREVER AGO, then your expectations will be met, if not exceeded. I was blown away by this book. Seriously.

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THIS is the book that messed up my sleep schedule for TWO. WHOLE. WEEKS. Because I was up until 6 AM reading. I kid you not, I was THAT unwilling to stop reading this book, for any reason at all. Stuff was going down! And it was epic! Victoria Scott's writing is fabulous. She builds her world quickly and effectively, not info-dumping or boring me in any way, shape, or form. I'm still a bit stunned about this, honestly. I finished this book in the beginning of March, and it's now the beginning of April and I'm writing this review...it took me all that time to think of something decent to say that explained more than "WOW" or "READ THIS FREAKING BOOK". Even now, I don't feel like I'm actually doing this book justice.

Character Rundown:
Dante: Dante. Flipping. Walker. The guy we've all been talking about. The guy I claimed as mine before I even officially met him. (And he IS mine, by the way, we should all be clear on that here and now.) The kind of guy who has swag for days and can make me laugh in LITERALLY any situation. He is a extremely well-rounded character, not boring at all--HA! He is the exact OPPOSITE of boring. Using the word "boring" and his name in the same sentence should be illegal. He's funny, and he has a kind heart. He may have been a bit conceited, but he was always awesome, and he grew to become...possibly my new favorite male character. I'm seriously unsure of everything right now. I guess we'll have to wait until after Origin to see how Daemon makes out on my book boyfriend list, yes?

Charlie: Charlie is the opposite of every other female character in practically every book I've ever read. She's not gorgeous. She's not popular. She's not wanted by every guy who breathes the same air as her. She's sweet, caring, and kind. She has a limp, acne, and wears glasses. NOT the kind of person anyone would pair with the badass Dante Walker. I really liked Charlie's character. She was so INNOCENT and that was fun to read, especially compared to Dante and his demon ways.

Plot. I guessed exactly ONE thing that was going to happen in this book. I mean, like, big-shocker-wise. Not obvious things. Everyone guesses those. I mean secretive things that we aren't supposed to know until we're either told or something happens to let the cat out of the bag. And I only guessed ONE of those. Um, yeah, Victoria Scott has obviously written a compelling story that is--YAY!--not predictable like so many other books. There are plot twists, my friends. They happen. You will be surprised. Have fun!

Dante + Charlie. As I said, these two are not the people anyone would imagine ending up together. But as a couple, they are so completely compatible, I'm smiling right now as I write this. She helps Dante be a better person, even when he doesn't realize it, or even want it to happen. And he makes her a more daring person. They bring out different things in each other and they are just so cute and, together, they are completely kickass, I'm not gonna lie. This is a couple that..just...AHH! Happiness and smiles right now. That's all I've got. Happiness and smiles.

The ending. Pfft. As if I'm actually going to tell you. I shall give nothing away except this: "Bad to the bone." ;)

Overall, The Collector is everything I expected it to be and more. Victoria Scott has written a compelling novel that is definitely worth losing a little sleep and slacking on a little blogging. This book is worth it all. It's books like this that make me both proud and GLAD to be V's super fan. <3

ONE MORE THING. The Liberator? AKA, the sequel? Um, yeah. The sooner I get my hands on that the better. I'M GOING THROUGH DANTE WITHDRAWALS.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Victoria Scott
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.
 
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I can't make this post WITHOUT mentioning the second book in the badass Dante Walker trilogy...
 
The Liberator by Victoria Scott
Expected Publication: August 27, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen
 
Description from Goodreads:
Bad boy, meet bad girl.

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.
 
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Giveaway!
 
There's a tour-wide giveaway going on, peeps! It is completely amazing. SERIOUSLY. Enter through the Rafflecopter below!!
 
 
♥Jessica(:

2 comments:

  1. Oooohhhh, seriously. I NEED to read this! Like, I HAVE to! And hopefully soon! If August doesn't kill me, then definitely soon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ohhhh! You have me SO COMPLETELY EXCITED to read this! *Grabby hands*

    ReplyDelete

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