Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott

*Cover and Synopsis from Goodreads

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.

Helpful Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Website

My Review:

I am going to admit, I was one of those fan girls dying to get my hands on Dante. From the minute I heard about this swagalicious, soul collector, I knew that I had to get my hands on him. So, I placed my order and I waited, and I waited. I waited for what felt like forever, but then a great thing happened--I got The Collector in the mail, and that was a happy day!

Dante is a soul collector, but not just any soul collector. He is the best, and when the devil needs a special job done, he only trusts Dante with the task. He has been given ten days to collect the soul of Charlie Cooper, the plain jane nerd from New Orleans. Thinking that this job is an easy win, Dante approaches the task like he does every other, with swagger, but Charlie is more than he bargained for and she will test all of Dante's collecting abilities.

From the minute I started The Collector I got a strong sense for who Dante was, cocky, oozing with charm and was smooth as glass. It was immediately apparent that Dante always got his way, in everything, well except maybe his death, but that is another story. As soon as Dante graced the page he had me laughing with his arrogant remarks about his swagger and ability to get the job done. Normally I would hate a character like this, as I naturally dislike over arrogant characters, but the way that Victoria Scott wrote Dante, made him hard to hate. Yes, he was arrogant, overly so, but his arrogance was approached with sarcasm and humor, which really helped me to like him. 

And then you meet Charlie, the everyday nerd girl who goes unnoticed. She is his opposite in every. Possible. Way. Where Dante is confidant and smooth, Charlie is awkward and clumsy. Where Dante knows all the right things to say, Charlie doesn't have anything to say. But I love her. I loved the fact that Victoria Scott gave me a strong female character who wasn't the bubbly, perfect cheerleader, who always got the guy. I appreciated her realistic approach to this character, as I connected with her on so many levels. 

Ultimately, The Collector is a story about the devil's right hand man and his climb up the hellacious ladder, so to speak. As you follow Dante on his task of collecting Charlie's soul you can immediately see that her being his exact opposite is going to pose some problems. For the first time, we see Dante the ever confidant soul collector falter and stumble as he struggles to find a way to collect Charlie's soul, and along the way we discover some of Dante's hidden secrets. Of course I can't tell you what those are, but I can tell you that everything about Dante will make you swoon.

Victoria Scott and The Collector, put a great spin on the the idea of the soul collector, the bad boy, and brought the term swagalicious to a whole new level, okay I don't know if that is actually a word, but if it isn't then it should be; and Dante can be the definition!

Not only does The Collector deliver on the deliciousness that is Dante, but Victoria Scott delivers a strong message about vanity and being happy with yourself, to the young girls who will surely be reading this book. And after the way Victoria Scott ended The Collector, I can't wait to get my hands on The Liberator, guess I better start counting down and pining away!

  

"I throw my head back and laugh long and hard. Then I lean in and whisper in her ear, "You don't know who you're fucking with, princess. Ain't no one do bad like I do." (paperback, p. 88).

There are many reasons I chose this moment as my favorite. Mostly it is because, not only does it show how confidant Dante is, but it is the first time we really get to see a different side of him. (When you read it, you will understand).