The Collector (Dante Walker #1) by @VictoriaScottYA Review and Giveaway

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Regina | 28 Comments

The Collector (Dante Walker #1) by @VictoriaScottYA Review and GiveawayThe Collector (Dante Walker #1) Series: Dante Walker #1
on April 2,2013
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
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Purchase Links: Amazon | B&N
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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.

 The Antidote by St. Vincent

Dante gets ready to this song. 🙂

Contrary to popular belief, Dante Walker is a little piece of Heaven on Earth.
 
 Hey, guys. My name’s Regina. A while back I read this book called The Collector. One of my homegirls said I would like it, so I gave it a shot. 
Dante flippin’ Walker. I really didn’t want to like this guy. I heard he gave Daemon Black from the Lux series a run for his money, and I wasn’t about to give this book the time of day. I’m protective over my closet boyfriends (YA crushes), so I took a peek at The Collector synopsis to see if this Dante character was a threat. I was ready to put to bed the buzz I had been hearing about this guy, and I went into this story ready to defend Daemon as reigning king of YA heart-throbs.
[*Crickets*]
Love (ahem) is a very fickle thing.
The name Dante used to materialize images in my mind of marble Italian sculptures, classical literature, and pointy green trees. The lyrical and poetic prose of Dante Alighieri’s famously grotesque Inferno would burn brightly through my thoughts with unpleasant after effects. Things are different now. Since I submitted myself to The Collector, fitted black t-shirts and red Chuck Taylor’s dance through my head like sugar skulls at the name Dante, and I’m ready to wax poetic about this diabolical hunk. The name Dante never sounded so good.
When I think about Victoria Scott’s The Collector, the song from Breaking Dawn part 2 where Bella is arm wrestling Emmett and breaks the boulder plays through my head as I picture Dante’s studly figure standing in front of a hotel room sink, running a comb through his ink black hair as he prepares to go out and turn females into sweating hormones and seal some souls. Dante is an otherworldly hunk that roams around Earth collecting souls for the boss man himself (aka Satan). Dante’s arrogant attitude fits him like a pair of freshly dried dark jeans, and he knows his good looks didn’t die when he did. With only a handful of Collectors at Satan’s disposal, Dante is the head honcho. The best of his kind and the boss man has given him a special assignment: COLLECT CHARLIE COOPER’S SOUL.
In The Collector our bad boy Dante’s skills are seriously put to the test with this Charlie chic. She’s the antithesis of Dante and looks like the cover model to Home School Weekly. She’s the Violet to our Screech. How is Dante going to work his wily ways on a girl that’s more interested in feeding stray raccoons and organizing community service events than partying? Charlie’s soul is bright white and proves to be a challenge to corrupt.
Did I LOVE this book? HELL YES. I love the way Victoria makes everyone so familiar. Charlie and her friends are people I could have eaten lunch with in high school, and Dante’s that stud who passed out flyers in between classes to come see his band play at the local venue. The pacing of the story is swift and stylishly written. The chemistry Victoria creates between Charlie and Dante is sweet and forbidden. Every stepping stone of their relationship is played out in the most satisfying way. There’s nothing I love more in a book than when love and attraction sneak up on someone. Mr. Popularity falls for the dork. The jock falls for the choir chic. Charlie’s character is the best kind of dorky/endearing, and Dante’s bravado and swagger make him more hot than not. The other character’s that play an integral role in this novel were memorable and creative. Oh, and the plot is pretty cool, too. This book was so much fun to read and left me in withdrawal mode when it ended. Dare I say this novel is generation defining? I do. It’s the Never Been Kissed and She’s All That to this decade, but waaaay cooler. (If you’re too young to remember those movies, I highly recommend them.) This book is definitely reread material, and if you haven’t read The Collector yet, here’s your chance. The Liberator (Dante Walker #2) is coming out in August, and to celebrate we are giving away 2 e-book copies of Dante Walker #1.

Enter below to win a 1 of 2 copies of Victoria Scott’s THE COLLECTOR in ebook format (Kindle or Nook)between 6/19/13 – 6/26/13 (up until 11:59pm est)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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About Victoria Scott

Victoria Scott is the acclaimed author of nine novels including FIRE & FLOOD, THE COLLECTOR, and the upcoming WE TOLD SIX LIES (January 2019). Victoria’s books have been YALSA-nominated, have appeared on the prestigious Spirit of Texas Reading Program, and have been included on Bank Street College of Education’s Best Books of the Year list. She’s been featured in USA Today, Girls’ Life Magazine, and Glitter Magazine, and her stories have been translated and sold in fourteen countries across the world.

Victoria is also the owner and founder of Scribbler, the only subscription box for writers, which has been featured as a best box for creatives by BuzzFeed. Victoria holds a master’s degree in business management, and plans to expand Scribbler into an all-inclusive resource for novelists.

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28 responses to “The Collector (Dante Walker #1) by @VictoriaScottYA Review and Giveaway

  1. Michelina D

    I have heard amazing things about this book.

    Thanks for the review & for the chance to win it 🙂

  2. Michelina D

    I have heard amazing things about this book.

    Thanks for the review & for the chance to win it 🙂

  3. Kristen@My Friends Are Fiction

    Haha, Great review Regina 🙂 I think it’s impossible to resist Dante’s charm. He just has a way about him. I think V. Scott has an amazing ability at giving her characters humanity and unique characteristics.

  4. Kristen@My Friends Are Fiction

    Haha, Great review Regina 🙂 I think it’s impossible to resist Dante’s charm. He just has a way about him. I think V. Scott has an amazing ability at giving her characters humanity and unique characteristics.

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