Review -- The Collector by Victoria Scott

Title: The Collector
Author: Victoria Scott
Series: Dante Walker (1)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: 02 April 2013
Date Read: March 2013
Rating: ★★★☆☆

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's been a while since I read The Collector, in reviewing terms anyway. I've been putting off writing the review because I wasn't sure how to put into words what I thought of it. Now, I've sat my ass down and told myself to quit procrastinating already and start writing. Almost everyone I know absolutely loved it. I don't quite share their feelings.

What most readers loved about The Collector is Dante Walker. No doubt about it, Dante had a distinct, dominant voice and personality to boot. You know who Dante reminds me of? This guy:


Iron Man. Ridiculously cocky, arrogant, witty, most of the time a dick and, of course, hot, and he knows it. A lot of the traits in a guy that would normally piss most people off. But like Iron Man, Dante just doesn't. It makes him kinda more irresistible and charming. But here's the thing.I don't like Iron Man. I think he's an arrogant prick. (Don't tell the Avengers fandom, though. They'd have me burned alive.) And I didn't like Dante, either. At first I loved his voice, his arrogant smirks, the overconfident swagger. But somewhere along the line, I got tired of him. I caught myself rolling my eyes at some of the dialogues and thoughts he had. I got tired of 'Boss Man', of 'I am the coolest shit this town will ever see', of 'fo sizzle', ugh. Really? You didn't even say that jokingly. Just shut up, please. He eventually sounded like a 13 year old trying hard to sound cool to me.

Apart from that, I enjoyed reading The Collector. The premise is different and interesting and unique and I really love the whole seals thing. It had an exciting pace. Charlie was adorable. She is lovely and funny and quirky nerd. She was exactly what Dante needed. She was tricked convinced into signing off her soul to the devil in exchange for beauty. I was so disappointed in her when she did that but who was I to judge, exactly? Most girls would jump at the chance to become skinner, to have clearer skin, to have silkier hair, to be more beautiful. Me, included. I thought it was very clever of Scott to do that. It clearly portrayed a teenage girl's desire to fit in and be more than who she believes herself to be. I was prepared to rip this part of the book apart in my review but there was no need. Scott was aware of what she was doing, which I can't say for most authors, and didn't disappoint when she righted Charlie's wrongs and taught her about self-esteem. Because you're worth it.

This is worth a shot if you're in the mood for a fun, quick read, with a little bit of oomph. There is a visible character development for Dante, and thank goodness for that. I'm looking forward to the The Liberator because by the sounds of it and how The Collector ended, I think I'll enjoy it more.


An ARC was received from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Stacking the Shelves

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. This is where we showcase books we have received or bought during the week.

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen me mention not getting any more books for April until I'm finally caught up with all the books and ARCs I already had. Well, good news, everyone! I all the books I was supposed to have finished and now I've got new books. Good timing, too, cause it came at a time when my day has been kinda crap. Plus, I had to restock for the 24-hour read-a-thon this weekend. Interested in joining, by the way? All the information is at their website.

Onto my books!

 

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
-Apparently she's a great author. I've got two of her books and I'll see which one is better, if she is as great as everyone says she is.

The Runaway King by Jennifer A Nielsen
-I love this trilogy. But I think I'll reread the first one again to jog my memory since I can't even name five characters in it.

17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
-Look, it's her other book. Imaginary Girls has a much better cover.

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone
-I've already read this one. It was pretty good. I won't be posting a proper review for it because I don't really have much to say. I wrote something teeny tiny up on Goodreads if you're really curious.

Prodigy by Marie Lu
-Finally get to read this. Many have told me this is much better than the first one so I'm looking forward to reading it.

The Collector by Victoria Scott
-Everyone was talking about this lately. I've read it already, and I'm afraid I didn't like it quite as much as everyone else did. I'll be posting my review soon.

Just a couple more egalley ARCs:

 

Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer
-I love this series. I don't love Hunter all that much, but the brothers are awesome as pie.

Starglass by Phoebe North
-I don't really know what to expect from Straglass. It definitely looks interesting. Hopefully, I'll end up enjoying it. I'm part of a tour for it, as well, so fingers crossed.

I think that's all for me. That's a lot more books than I realized.

What do you thing of my books? How's your haul like? Sound off in the comments or leave me a link to your post.

ETA: I'm not doing the read-a-thon anymore. I got so confused by the time zones so bad. I thought it was on Saturday, then I realized NZ is a day ahead so I thought it was Sunday. I checked the site on Sunday and it was already half over. I'm still confused about that.

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