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.
Ain't no one do bad like I do.
I look like a movie star and move like an athlete. That didn't change when I kicked the bucket. It's okay to be jealous, to covet me. It's a delicious sin - tastes like chicken.But you know how it is with guys like Dante (if there truly is such a thing) ~ all that big personality is usually trick, a mask to cover up something else ~ something he doesn't want to think about, something he doesn't want others to see. Dante goes much deeper than his "I'm-hot-and-I-know-it" persona, and it's that element that makes us love him so much.
Charlie Cooper isn't his typical mission. Just looking at her and you've got to wonder what the heck the devil would want with her soul.
My eyes widen at the sight of her. This is the girl Boss Man is after? She looks like a porcelain doll...beat three times with an ugly stick. I take it all in: glasses, frizzy blond hair, a spray of pimples, and a stick figure so not attractive on a seventeen-year-old-girl.But as he carries out his job, she surprises him at every turn. Charlie is an innocent, caring, fun, and overly chatty teenager, and there's something about her that gets under Dante's skin, poking and prodding at emotions he thought he'd left behind long ago along with a few new ones he never considered himself.
Second chances - they were never for me. But Charlie, she just gave me one. She just saw something in me. And maybe I can be the thing she sees.Dante's cockiness and tendency towards bad versus Charlie's generous innocence is fascinating to watch as they bounce off and affect each other to move to actions neither would have expected of themselves.
I loved Victoria Scott's take on demons and angels, the balance between good vs. evil, and how anyone can earn a second chance. Not only that but the concept that beauty is relative, that it is truly defined by who you are. Dante learns that his superficial way of looking at life and death is pretty cheap and that the way he's come to define himself isn't necessarily true. He's not a know-it-all. Go figure. :)
Victoria Scott has created characters that you can carry with you and a story that is as memorable as it is admirable, funny, emotional, and complex. Her witty writing style and ability to weave a novel full of growth, conflict, and hope are just a few of the reasons I will pick up anything she writes in the future.
Five fabulous stars across the board :).
I'm a YA writer represented by Laurie McLean. Author of THE COLLECTOR (Entangled Teen, April 2013) and THE BRIMSTONE BLEED (Scholastic, 2014). I have a master's degree in marketing, and live in Dallas with my husband. When not writing, I can be found munching cotton candy and snuggling obese cats.
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