The Collector by Victoria Scott
Series: Dante Walker #1
Publication date: April 2nd, 2013
Pages: 352
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
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 hi, 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.
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Review:
I recently received the third book in the series for review and figured, if I was going to read the third book in a series not made to be read independently that I needed to read the first few books as well. So, I went to the library and grabbed myself a copy of the first book.
Dante is an egotistical, smartass, with an odd job. His job is to tag souls when they are naughty until they reach their quota. Once that happens he is meant to collect the soul and take it down to Boss Man who lives wayyy down below, if you catch my drift. As a promotion becomes available for Dante to lead the collectors and find a permanent place about ground on Earth he is stoked. But there is one catch. He must collect Charlie Cooper's soul in just ten days time. It seems like it would be a piece of cake but when he meets innocent and angelic Charlie, it is apparent this would not be anything like a cake walk.
Charlie is the queen of the nerds. She is far from attractive, prefers volunteering to partying, and seems to be the butt of every joke at her school. Dante couldn't be more annoyed with this assignment and how hard it is to get innocent little Charlie to sin. Eventually, Dante is given a contract that promises Charlie's soul to him once she makes enough wishes to fill up her sin quota. Slowly, Charlie starts wishing to be all the things she never was. And Dante, who should be happy to see Charlie change, finds himself wishing for the old Charlie back.
Charlie seems to be on Dante's boss's radar for a reason. Dante must choose between following his order or aging against them and trying to free Charlie in the ultimate story of good vs. evil.
Not many books are written through a male's perspective, at least not through the entire length of the story. That was an interesting change to get a male's view on situations. The book confronts some harsh subjects like bullying, physical appearance, and also the battle between good and evil. You would think with so much talk of Satan and God that the book would seem a bit overly religious. It wasn't. It was the perfect amount. There were moments when I really disliked Dante, but of course that was the author's intention. Dante is one of those characters that you love to hate in the beginning.
I found The Collector to be a fun YA read that confronts the trials and tribulations of remaining good with a snarky, sexy antagonist turned protagonist leading one astray.
