The Collector by Victoria Scott: review

The Collector by Victoria Scott
Series: Dante Walker #1
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: April 2nd 2013
Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts:

I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book all that much. But in the end, I really found myself loving it. I got caught up in the story and the dynamics between all the characters, and just kind of got lost in the story. And the lolz.

Let me explain. The Collector is just one of those books in which I just can’t read without laughing. And that is all thanks to Dante’s way of talking and thinking. Awhile the guy can be a bit exasperating at times, it’s impossible to say that he is not funny. Because he is one of the funniest characters I have ever had the honor to read about.  And if you don’t think that Dante’s attitude is funny, my only response is:

And since we are talking about Dante, I need to say that he is a cocky, conceited, flamboyant, self-superior anti-hero that thinks he is the sexiest guy on earth. So if you don’t like characters like him, you won’t enjoy this book much.

But Dante does grow into a better person throughout the novel. There was always good in him, of course, but the events and people he meets in during the story help that good part of him become more obvious and apparent. Sure, he is still conceited at the end of the story, but his development as a character is exponential.

Charlie, the female lead of the story, is also a character that I loved a heck of a lot. She’s awkward, names cars, keeps a bag of Skittles in her pocket, is insecure, and has a really loving heart. I couldn’t help but love her. The girl is one of those impossibly nice characters that are also realistic in their very own way.

The dynamics between the main characters and the side characters is what made the book for me. Every interaction Dante and Charlie had with Max, Blue, Valery, Annabell, and Gram pulled me into the story more. Victoria Scott really did good with this aspect of the book.

I do think that the first part of the novel was much better than the second. It was more fulfilling even though the Boss Man vs. Big Guy plot didn’t fully kick in yet. Not that the second part was not entertaining, it was definitely entertaining, but I just believe that the first part was more… tightly written.

Final Verdict: The Collector is a pretty awesome book with great characters, humor, and writing. It’s just that not very awesome second part that bothered me. I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining story.

An advanced copy was provided in exchange for a honest review via Netgalley.