{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: The Liberator - Victoria Scott

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my stop for The Liberator blog tour! You can follow the tour here.

Title: The Liberator (Dante Walker #2)

Author: Victoria Scott

Release Date: August 27th 2013

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: ecopy for blog tour

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Bad boy, meet bad girl.

Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn't like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.

When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.

With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.

The Liberator picks up a few weeks after the events of the first book. There is immediate tension as Dante's given his first job as a Liberator, but that means we get immediate fun. Even though I read The Collector a few months back, I didn't have a hard time getting back into this fictional world of Team Heaven, Team Hell, and soul stamps.

I liked Charlie in the first book but even then, she felt flat, and that unfortunately carries on here in the sequel. I know she's complex, but she somehow doesn't feel that way. And then she goes on doing stupid things out of pressure, and I just downright disliked her. Dislike, actually, as in present, but I hope that changes in the next book.

Thank the Big Guy for Aspen, the reason why I enjoyed The Liberator so much more than its predecessor. She's infinitely more interesting than Charlie, and I'm sad that she didn't get more of the spotlight. Aspen is a broken soul, but that sadness doesn't keep her from being fierce.

It's Aspen who speaks next. "Can it, chick. If you're really able to bring a hundred years of peace to this hellhole, then this isn't just about you. Got it?"

You said it, girl.

Wait, I'm forgetting something here. What—oh, right, it's who. Sorry, D-Dub. I'm pleased to say that Dante Walker is still his rude, expensive-brand-loving self, and I still loved him. He's badass but sassy, something I haven't seen in any other bookish guy. Like the first book, The Liberator worked because of Dante's entertaining voice, and I seriously can listen to him prattling on his narcissistic shit for days.

I remember letting this slide in The Collector, but here I see less basis for the "love" between Charlie and Dante. There's a lot else going on plot-wise, and we're made to accept their relationship for what we're told about it. 

Intense and fast-paced yet still poignant and touching, The Liberator certainly outdid The Collector. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who'll find it hard to put down, and I can't wait to pick up the third book in this delightful series!

MY FAVORITE PART is Dante being bad with Aspen. I never shipped them, but their dynamic's just so good.

RATING:

  

About the author:

I’m a teen fiction writer with a die-hard affection for dark and humorous books. My work is represented by Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger literary agency. I have a master’s degree in marketing, and currently live in Dallas with my husband, Ryan.

My first series started with THE COLLECTOR, and was published by Entangled Teen in April 2013. The second book in the trilogy, THE LIBERATOR, will release August 2013. My next series kicks off with FIRE & FLOOD and is being published by Scholastic, February 2014.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Youtube | Amazon

 

Giveaway!

Enter to win a signed copy of The Liberator and a signed copy of Twilight! Open INT'L.

Book Review: The Collector - Victoria Scott

 Title: The Collector (Dante Walker #1)

Author: Victoria Scott

Release Date: March 25th 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads | Amazon | 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.

I know I said in a recent post that when I read a book, I try not to expect anything—but that's very hard to do when a book's receiving so much hype, as is the case with The Collector. Thankfully, this book didn't disappoint.

For me, the best thing about this book was Dante Walker himself, in whose POV this book was written in. It was so much fun being inside his head, and unsurprisingly enough, his abounding self-confidence entertained instead of irritated. I also loved how, for the first time ever—for me, at least—the heroine wasn't physically appealing, particularly in the hero's eyes.

At first glance, Charlie Cooper was the stereotypical nerdy girl, complete with hideous hair, uneven teeth, and bad skin, and I had a hard time imagining how self-absorbed Dante could fall for her. But sure enough, he did. How could he have not? Beneath the unpleasant facade, Charlie was smart, sweet, and so unusually kind. Their relationship was one I really loved, because it didn't sprout—it grew, changing both of them along the way.

The Collector's strength was clearly the characters, because I felt like the plot could have progressed faster. Still, that gave me time to relish these new friends, whose variety added so much more color to the story. It also enhanced the suspense; the whole time I was reading this, I kept suspecting everyone as the bad guy who would stab Dante and Charlie in the back.

The twist at the end was great, but it made me even more worried for Dante and Charlie. Also, I wish what would happen to Charlie's soul had gotten explained, but I'm sure it will be in the next book which I am looking forward to!

MY FAVORITE PART was Dante trying to get close to Charlie. 

RATING:

 

(cover and blurb from Goodreads.com)