Author: Victoria ScottSeries: Dante Walker, #1
Release date: April 2nd 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Paperback, 352 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository
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.
Does everyone remember Dolores Umbridge and that wicked quill of hers? Of course you do, why am I even asking? How could you not remember poor Harry writing in his own blood. Well, I need Professor Umbridge right about now, only instead of I must not tell lies, I’d like her to force me to write I must not believe the hype. A few pages, a nasty scar, and voila, I’d be fully reformed.
While I’m ready to admit that The Collector has a lot going for it (its laugh-out-loud humor being number one on that list), I don’t think the good outweighs the bad, I’m afraid. Dante Walker, collector extraordinaire and ultimate bad boy isn’t nearly as charming as I’d been lead to believe. He is, at times, hilarious, I’ll give him that much – but that kind of thing loses its shine quickly, and what remains is just another bad boy with a good heart, waiting for the right girl to come along and save him.
Nevertheless, this could have been quite entertaining if not for Charlie’s physical appearance at the beginning. It didn’t bother me that she was unattractive, but that she needed to be unattractive in order to emphasize Dante’s later transformation. Everything was depending on him accepting her for who she was – and who she was was exaggerated to the point of being ridiculous. All the squealing, the crooked teeth, the awful skin, the limp… I mean, really? Did Scott have to go to such extremes? And then, of course, just as Dante finally noticed her inner beauty, the ugly duckling became a swan, so no self-sacrifice on his part was necessary after all. Ugh.
Truth be told, paranormal romance is never my first choice, or my second… or my seventeenth, really, but I wanted to like The Collector more than I actually did. As it is, I won’t be continuing the series unless other reviewers somehow convince me using their evil mind tricks. It’s been known to happen, you know. :)
Hah! If you ever learn to ignore the hype, do share your secrets with me. I'd probably save a lot of money and time. ;) I enjoyed this one overall, but not enough to give it more than 3 stars. To be quite honest, I only really liked it for the entertainment value, but even that fizzled out for me after a while. I'll still probably read the sequel if it landed my way though. Nice review, Maja!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you either love The Collector or find it meh. I've been on the fence about it because of the mixed reviews but I guess I'll see for myself soon enough. Thanks for the honest review, Maja!
ReplyDeleteBAH. That sucks that you were horrifically disappointed. I love that little anecdote you put in there. I was just watching Order of the Phoenix yesterday and I HATE HATE HATE Umbridge. URGH. I'll get my expectations down before reading this one then.
ReplyDeleteStunning review as always, Maja! <33
Hi Maja,
ReplyDeleteI love the intro of your review. It's cute and funny :) Too bad this book didn't go well with you. I think the bad boy with good heart waiting for a girl to save him is a bit generic. I might not read this book. Thanks for another cool review.
-Dannielle
If only we could disregard the hype, right? I was - thankfully - never attracted by this one because I'd had more than enough of bad boys. It's a shame that so many aspects of this plot seem so forced, but I hate the Ugly Duckling phenomenon too. Fantastic review, Maja! You had me from the first mention of Potter! ;)
ReplyDeleteI always get pulled in by the hype surrounding books too. As for The Collector I enjoyed it but the Charlie bit really got to me too.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I have been hearing such great things about Dante, I am sad you didn't like him as much as everyone seems to. Darn! I am sad that things were over exaggerated and almost ridiculous. That is so disappointing!
ReplyDeleteAwesome review Maja!
Uh oh. I've definitely seen a lot of hype about this one, but I'm so sorry to hear this one disappointed you, Maja. Dante doesn't sound quite as attractive anymore, and my excitement has certainly dimmed. If I read this one, I'll be sure to go in with lower expectations. Lovely and honest review, Maja! :)
ReplyDeleteSomehow I expected this. Everyone were crazy for this one but deep down I knew it would be typical. I mean Dante sounds like a good guy but nothing extraordinary especially after all that with Charlie. Really? Was that necessary? Maybe I'll read it just because of funny moments. Great review Maja :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't like this one either Maja. And I agree about the unattractiveness, I found it so annoying how it was such an important part of the book and how people, like the guy in the shop, commented on it. Are people that shallow? Great honest review :)
ReplyDeleteAh! This is interesting. I DNFed, so it's interesting to see how the book plays out in the end. I do agree Charlie's extreme appearance was off-putting, and now hearing how it affected the plot makes it a bit worse. I think I'm glad I decided not to finish!
ReplyDeleteWell this is unfortunate. I have this for review. I don't like the fact they exaggerate Charlie's unattractiveness. At least I know to lower my expectations. :/
ReplyDeleteBummer, it's too bad Charlie's unattractiveness is emphasized and exaggerated so that we can later fall in love with Dante. I was so excited about this one before its release but each review I've read has convinced me to keep putting it off.
ReplyDeleteI wish the appearance wasn't made into such a huge deal; though, I admit, I really like that Charlie isn't that good looking (at least for a bit sigh). haha At any rate, I'm curious about this one. I do like some good humor; maybe it would make a nice pool book!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those books that I loved, but I totally get people who don't love it. A lot of the problems people say they had with it, I would think I would have had too, but for some reason it just didn't bother me. It stinks you didn't like it more though!
ReplyDeleteAww sorry to hear you didn't connect with this one, but I understand your issues with it. My experience with this book was like what happens when I watch The Vampire Diaries. I laughed a lot, rolled my eyes a bit, and every now and then did a serious double take at some worldbuilding snafus, but all in all I still had a really good time. If I think too carefully about the ugly duckling/swan factor or look much deeper into Dante's inner life I'm sure I'll wind up disappointed, but like Candace, the perfectly reasonable issues people have had with this haven't affected me the way I would expect them to. Maybe I'm too easily charmed by bad boys and one liners. Love your hype aversion therapy idea, that was hilarious! :-) I'd do it too, if it was a bit less painful. :D
ReplyDeleteThis one is sitting in my tbr pile and I have read enough reviews to know this will be nothing short of a light, funny read! I giggled at your description of her, yes a plain Jane would have sufficed! Great review Maja!!!
ReplyDeleteI was really EXCITED to read this one, but then the book came out and I became wary of the hype. I still want to read this story, but I'm much more sober about how I will approach it. I like indulgent paranormal romances, especially if they're funny. But I'm not convinced that I will love this story, especially for the reasons you outline. Thanks for your honesty here.
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