Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott

The Collector (Dante Walker #1)
by Victoria Scott
Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release Date: April 2nd, 2013

Format: Paperback, 352 pages

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 think I should make a habit of reining in my excitement every time a new book that has been garnering exceptional reviews comes out, and perhaps try to not expect too much from those books. Why? Well,  it seems most of the books I’ve been incredibly excited for this year just happen to become the most disappointing ones. The Collector is one of them. My FB homepage and Twitter feed were spammed with how amazing Dante Walker is (and I developed a tiny crush on him before I even got my hands on a copy!) but the truth is, Dante Walker is a narcissist, and egotistical to the point I could not tolerate one more word out of his mouth.

The Collector is a story we’ve read many times; we have a bad boy, an innocent girl, a mission gone wrong and the two fall in love. But add in heaven, hell, soul-collecters, a male POV, and viola!The Collector is born. The first couple of chapters were pretty good; Dante had a strong voice, he was humorous (albeit up himself, but it was fine), the writing was decent and I was enjoying it. Then we met Charlie. And the story went downhill from there.

This is just me, but I’ve never been able to tolerate characters who are too “good”. They’re too fake, in my opinion. Too bland. Too one-dimensional. (In her defense, she did show a wild side once or twice, but I’d stopped caring by then). Dante made her seem fragile, angelic and from what I gathered, weak. The girl drove me nuts. So did Dante after 100+ pages of his arrogance and hearing him praise himself. I never cared for the other characters either. Charlie’s two best friends were sweet, loyal and protective but I just couldn’t develop a liking to them. They were just…there.

This would’ve been a DNF but since I had loads of free time everyday on the bus/train, I skimmed the last quarter or so. I won’t be coming back for the next book, but I sure hope Dante will fall for the ‘bad girl’. (Yes, I’m not being very nice but I bet the new girl will be much more interesting than Charlie. But of course, Dante will remain faithful to Charlie.) *sigh*

Review: Find You In The Dark by A. Meredith Walters

Find You In The Dark 
by A. Meredith Walters

Publisher: Self-published

Release Date: October 10th 2012

Format: Kindle, 290 pages
Purchase: Amazon

Maggie Young had the market on normal. Normal friends, normal parents, normal grades...normal life. 

 Until him. 

 Clayton Reed was running from his past and an army of personal demons that threatened to take him down. He never thought he had a chance at happiness.

 Until her. 

 Maggie thought their love could overcome anything. Clay thought she was all he needed to fix his messy life. 

 That together, they could face the world. 

 But the darkness is always waiting. 

 Sometimes the greatest obstacle to true love is within yourself.

It's not every day I read about deep and serious issues such as bi-polar disorder, cutting and suicide. I had no idea Find You In The Dark dealt with these issues, and honestly, had I known, I probably would've stayed far away from the book. I guess it's just something I'm not comfortable reading about, and so my experience with this particular book wasn't exactly "good".

 The story itself is one that we've read a million times before - girl meets boy. Girl and boy fall in love. But no matter how many times I read these storylines, I can never get bored. Find You In The Dark however, steps up a level. It's Girl meets a boy who suffers from bi-polar disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. You can probably guess the sort of twisted and very unhealthy relationship the two main characters, Maggie and Clay have...to say "unhealthy" is probably an understatement. Their relationship is mutually destructive, and while I appreciate Maggie's love for Clay and her insistence on staying with him at all times, sometimes, in order to help, one should...let go.

 Detrimental relationships aside, I also had problems with the dialogue and the tone of the characters. They're supposed to be teenagers, 17/18-year old, yet the main character, Maggie sounded like a middle-aged woman impersonating an over-dramatic 13 year old. The excessive use of question and exclamation marks really didn't help either. Maggie's sarcasm was, the majority of the time, over-the-top and her 'snarky' comebacks were just plain annoying. It didn't help that she cared more about her unstable boyfriend, who, might I add, was constantly humiliating her and getting angry at her for the smallest things, than her friends, family and everyone else important to her.

 Clay, as mentioned above suffers from bi-polar disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. As mindful as I am of his condition, I couldn't tolerate his mood swings, spontaneous anger towards everyone and psychotic breakdowns. One minute he would be smiling, laughing with everyone, the next, he would start cutting himself and trash a whole room. I felt like smacking him at times when even though he says he loves Maggie and would do anything to protect her, he doesn't exactly try to accomplish that. It would help if he was doing as the doctors advised and taking the prescribed medicine..but no, he wouldn't do that.

 I guess this is a small problem, but as someone who is extremely stringent about grammar and formatting....the paragraphing really irked me. Conversations would be written in a huge paragraph and half the time I had to re-read the paragraph to confirm who was speaking. Yeah...it's an editing problem....but it really annoyed me. This book just wasn't my cup of tea. I know many people enjoyed it - check GR, it has an average rating of 4.2 and the majority of reviews show glowing praises. Unfortunately, this book was too heavy and dark for my liking; I just couldn't enjoy it.

A massive thank you to A. Meredith Walters and The Readiacs for providing a copy of Find you in the Dark for review

Book Review: No Such Thing As Forever by Ali Cronin

No Such Thing As Forever 

by Ali Cronin 

Publisher: Penguin Australia

Release Date: July 5th 2012

Format: Paperback

Purchase: Book Depository 

Cass is Ms Monogamy. Ashley is a player. Donna is a party girl. But what about Sarah?

Her friends tease her for being uptight, but she's waiting for the one. Now she's found him, but is he forever - or is Sarah just his summer fling?

To be honest, it’s books like No Such Thing As Forever that put me off reading contemporary YA. I can only say I’m so glad the majority of contemporary books I’ve read this year have been so much better. No such thing as Forever was, most unfortunately, a major disappointment. The characters were dull and irritating; and nothing about the plot intrigued me. I was just glad that this was a quick read, so I didn’t have to spend so much time reading it.

I was so frustrated with Sarah's behaviour throughout the book that I literally wanted to jump inside the book and throttle her. After she met a guy on holiday in Spain, her world quite literally revolved around him. She had an unhealthy and obsessive infatuation with him; something that annoyed the hell out of me. Calling her “naïve” is probably an understatement; “stupidity”, though harsh, is probably a more fitting word. I hated how she deluded herself into thinking she could have a future with a guy who publicly humiliated her, ignored her phone calls, visited her only when it was convenient for him, and…who only wanted “uber hot” sex with her whenever they saw each other. Joe may be a jerk-no doubt about it-, but I found it was Sarah’s own actions that resulted in all the drama that unfolded.  I mean, did it not mean anything when Joe told her point blank that their relationship wasn’t serious? Was that not the time to walk away? While Sarah may be seen as a realistic character- portraying a teenager experiencing love for the first time, I found it incredibly difficult to relate to her. I mean…not ALL girls who experience first love are like her.

So Sarah’s obsessed, and Joe's a (for a lack of better word) douchebag, unfortunately the other characters weren't much better. The only characters I liked were the guys- Ollie(who's so sweet by the way!), Jack and Rich; who, in my opinion  were the only sensible characters in the book. I felt Sarah's three 'best friends' Donna, Cass and Ash were either selfish or just..incredibly dislikable characters. Ash was ungrateful (Is it too much to say “Thank You” after your best friend after she (literally) saved you from death? ) ; and Cass and Donna just….didn’t strike me as great friends. Let’s just say I’m glad these three aren’t my best friends.

No such thing as Forever, most unfortunately wasn’t my cup of tea. I’ve been more tolerant of contemporary books lately, but this just didn’t make the cut. I know many found this realistic, and many of the characters relatable, but, I couldn’t, for the life of me, relate to the characters. However, I’m sure many contemporary fans will find this enjoyable – so, if you love contemporary, then you may want to consider picking this up if you’re in for a speedy Summer read :)

Book Review: The Eye of the Crystal Ball by J.P. Boje

Title: The Eye of the Crystal Ball
Author: T.P Boje
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: 23rd June, 2011
Source: e-book from author for review (Thank you) 
Goodreads Synopsis: 
When Sara was newborn her parents left her at the doorstep at Mr. and Mrs. Schneider's house.

When Sara was ten she discovered she was telekinetic. She began to move stuff around when she got angry just by her will alone.

When Sara was twelve her real parents came for her and took her with them to live like the Gypsy that she was - or Romani as they like to call themselves. They told her she was going to fulfill a prophesy. That it was once said that out of the Romani people the greatest sorceress who had ever lived would be born.
When Sara was thirteen she had a baby brother and when she was fourteen he got very sick with a strange illness.
To save her baby-brother Sara sets off on a quest to find his cure - well knowing that it will cost her dearly.
Soon Sara finds herself going through the Singing Cave, crossing Wild Witches Valley, talking to a ten foot giant snail, rescuing the Beads of Souls from the Hell-hounds, escaping a spell in Vamila, the Forest of Vanity, visiting the king at the City of Lights before she finally reaches the Black Castle where she is told the Eye of the Crystal Ball can tell her how to cure her brother's strange illness.

But nothing is free in this world - and as Sara soon will know - everything has a price.


My Thoughts:
When I first started reading this, I had the impression that a narrator was telling either a story of the past (like a prologue) or a nice bedtime story and that the real tale would be told years later. Except, I realised later on that the story had indeed started already, and it was merely the writing style that confused me. The beginning was mainly a narration and it felt like I was being told a story rather than being shown it. There were sudden changes from third person to second person, which didn’t work so well. While reading it, I felt like a bystander watching the proceedings from a distance instead of experiencing the actions with the characters.

Unfortunately I did not feel a connection with any of the characters. Perhaps it was because everything happened too fast, some characters jumped in and out, never staying long enough to make an impression. Sara and Manolo’s characters were not as well developed as I’d liked. Being the main character, I expected to understand more of Sara’s personality and behaviour, but as the book focused mainly on what she did and what happened to her, occasionally mentioning what she felt, i personally felt no connection with her. The blurb mentioned Sara being telekinetic but in the book, there was hardly any reference to her telekinetic abilities. She discovered her ability one day, was told to learn to control it, and almost never used her ability again.

The book was easy to read and reminded me of an innocent children’s bedtime story. There were mentionsof folklore that was quite intriguing but would certainly have appealed to me more if I was younger. However, I did find many of the fantasy creatures very imaginative. Some were incredibly amusing and sweet, while others were plain evil. Unfortunately, the journey took too long to describe and when I finally read up to the climax, everything resolved too quickly. At least, the ending was satisfying. I was happy that it wasn’t a typical happily-ever-after ending.

I would recommend this to younger readers, as there were appealing qualities which younger children may find interesting. I know for a fact that, had I been younger, I certainly would have enjoyed this much more. Overall, it was fast-paced, and fairytale-like, but sadly, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. 


Rating: 2 stars


Quotes: 
"It is for us to use them, to neglect nature’s cures is to turn away our greatest treasure.

 "Never doubt yourself. Fear makes you lose your powers and drains your energy. You must focus on what you are doing completely and believe that you can do it. "

Book Review:Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Title: Unearthly (Unearthly #1)

Author: Cynthia Hand

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: 4th January 2011

Rating: 2 stars - It's not my cup of tea

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

My Thoughts:

I started reading this book with high expectations, and it was probably because of my exceedingly high expectations that I felt this book was quite disappointing. Despite the fact that I did not quite like this book, I can understand why so many people thought it was such an amazing book. However, this just wasn’t my type of book.

Unfortunately, I felt no connection with any of the characters. Clara, the heroine, seemed like any other heroines out there. I felt that there was nothing special about her to distinguish her from anyone else. I was hoping for a more intriguing and exciting heroine. I felt her character was quite boring throughout the book. At times, she was snarky and sarcastic, but for me, her uninteresting side overruled her fun side.  As for Christian, he's the most popular guy at school, with ridiculously good looks. But unfortunately, he bored me to death. A popular guy who's good at pretty much everything? Not uncommon. His personality was flat and boring - basically devoid of character. However, I had mixed feelings about Tucker. Tucker was probably the most interesting character in Unearthly since he actually had character - witty, sarcastic and funny. Tucker’s character is usually the sort of character I fall for (yes, I have A LOT of  YA fiction crushes!!!!!), but I didn’t quite like him as much.

Characters aside, the plot was very...typical. 
Girl moves to new school. 
Girl instantly falls for most popular boy. 
The "It" Girl takes an instant dislike to new girl. 
Girl falls in with 'unpopular'/unnoticed group. 

I was really hoping for a different, unique and original storyline. Clara trying to unravel the mystery behind her 'purpose' on earth and the meaning behind her visions is original to an extent. But I thought the author focused more on the relationship between Clara and Christian, and later, Clara and Tucker. The first half of the book focused almost entirely on the everyday life of a typical teenager. On more than one occasion, I was eye-rolling at the things Clara did to attract Christian’s attention. It was only towards the end that some questions were answered and the real action began but I felt that the action and events that unfurled towards the end, was a bit random. Personally, I felt the action only took place for the sake of writing a more interesting scene, which required action/fight between the good & evil.

Although I did not quite like the book, I must admit that Cynthia Hand is an excellent writer. Her writing style is flawless and the book is written at a consistent pace. I was also quite happy with the lack of super cheesy scenes in the novel. (Some events were quite unoriginal, but at least they weren’t cheesy.)  The ending was abrupt, but it did not feel rushed, which I really liked. The ending sort of seemed to lead into the next book. I’m still debating whether to read the next book or not, hoping that I’ll somehow be able to connect with the characters. Plus, the cover of Unearthly and Hallowed (second book) are both stunning, 

so perhaps I won’t be able resist and will end up reading the second book! 

P.S. This is the Australian cover for Unearthly. I think I prefer the US cover, but I really like the font on this one!