The Collector by Victoria Scott Book Review

the collector by victoria scottBook: The Collector by Victoria Scott, Entangled Teen, On Sale Now

Book Info: YA Paranormal, Review copy courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley, Paperback 352 pages

More Info:  Goodreads | Amazon

I was intrigued to check out The Collector by Victoria Scott – I feel like I’ve been hearing about this Dante Walker character for months. Even though paranormal isn’t my go-to genre these days, I like to shake things up now and then from my usual contemporary. Besides, The Collector was generating a lot of buzz so I had to give it a shot. For the most part, The Collector is a fun read & I like the male POV. It’s not a book that totally consumed me, but it’s enjoyable and I’m curious enough to want to continue on with the trilogy.

Dante Walker is a soul collector, who works for the Boss Man corrupting and tagging vulnerable beings. His confidence, swagger, and good looks make him irresistible and quite successful as a collector. So when Boss Man gives him the assignment to retrieve good girl Charlie’s soul as a ticket out of Hell, he knows he’s got it in the bag. But Charlie’s innocence and all-around goodness sparks some humanity and for the first time he’s struggling to stay on the dark path.

I found it refreshing that this book is in the bad boy Dante’s POV. He’s got a lot of personality and unashamed bravado. He comes off as a jerk so that the only way he can go is up.  He’s quite a character, but I liked him in spite of his conceit. I was glad that the book was not dual POV- it’s a nice change of pace to have a male POV book.

Dante’s counterpoint Charlie is as sweet and good as they come, so she’s quite the challenge for Dante. I liked Charlie, and her awkwardness and innocence. She has a nice supportive group of friends too, even though she’s not in the popular crowd. Charlie isn’t as well rounded a character as Dante but there’s a lot to like about her. It made sense that Charlie would fall for Dante in a superficial way, but she also sees something good in him that he doesn’t see in himself. I liked seeing Dante’s character evolve through Charlie’s influence.

The good and evil story is appealing, and with Dante under a deadline to capture Charlie’s soul, there is lots of action. It’s light, fun, and witty, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I wasn’t thinking about it all the time when I wasn’t reading it, but I did find it amusing and Dante’s voice especially is a standout. And there’s not too long to wait for the sequel – The Liberator is due out August 27th.

Ornament

14 thoughts on “The Collector by Victoria Scott Book Review

  1. Elin says:

    Never heard of the book before. Love your review, sound like a book I must read:)

    1. Lucy says:

      Hope you enjoy it, Elin! Dante is quite a character 🙂

  2. Great review. It has been quite the buzz here in TX, with the author from here. You kind affirmed where I thought it might fall in TBR pile 😉

    1. Lucy says:

      The marketing for this book is really genius- I’ve been hearing about it for months! I didn’t realize the author was from TX. Maybe you’ll get to meet her at a signing sometime.

  3. squee1313 says:

    I’ve been looking at this book for a while, but since my library doesn’t carry it, I’d actually have to purchase it. The horrors! Your post was mostly positive but I still don’t know if it was enough to push me over into the “Spend Money On It” category. I think you got this when it was a Kindle daily deal or something, right? I put it on my amazon wishlist for now. I’ll come back and revisit it again in the future. Either my library might pick it up, or some one will take pity on me and give me a Amazon gift card.

    1. Lucy says:

      I got this book from Netgalley, but maybe it will be available on amazon prime lending? If I see it go on sale I’ll be sure to mention it! Wish it was available at the library, but maybe in the future.

  4. Candice says:

    Sounds like something a little different… I mean, the plot sounds pretty common, but I love that there’s a male POV – something we don’t seem to get much of! Will have to check it out sometime!

    1. Lucy says:

      Yes, the male POV was a big selling point for me that took it beyond the usual paranormal read.

  5. fishgirl182 says:

    oh i saw this on ng the other day but was on the fence. nice to hear that it has a good male pov and not dual. those are hit and miss for me. i also love the slightly conceited boy types so this sounds like it could be a fun read. thanks for the review, lucy!

    1. Lucy says:

      It is refreshing that there isn’t a dual POV, and surprising really. It made me more sympathetic towards Dante that it was all in his perspective. He is definitely a bad-boy Daemon /Lux series type.

  6. Kelley says:

    I’ve been seeing this book all over the place, and it’s made me curious as well. I like your review because you talk about the struggle between good and evil here, which is interesting. Before, all I heard about this book was this Dante guy with a huge ego, but now I realize that there’s probably some interesting and satisfying character arcs in here. Although I don’t like the thought of him trying to corrupt Charlie. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll give this book a shot. Great review. 🙂

    1. Lucy says:

      That’s all I heard about the book too- Dante Dante Dante! His personality is larger than life but there is more to the story for sure. Really hope you like this one if you decide to try it out, Kelley!

  7. Quinn says:

    I read this one last week, and I agree, I wasn’t completely consumed by this book. It was okay. I liked Dante, but I found Charlie kind of meh.

  8. MsJohannah says:

    The cover is what gets my attention. Then I read the description and I want to read this SO bad!!!

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