Mini Reviews: The Collector by Victoria Scott & Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

 

The Collector (Dante Walker, #1)

Victoria Scott
March 25, 2013

3.5/5 stars

Add to Goodreads

Dante Walker created the most fangirl-ing I have ever witnessed between the readers and bloggers in my 18 months of blogging. The girls were going crazy over him and with "He makes good girls... bad" on the cover, who wouldn't? When I started reading The Collector, Dante came out as the type of douchbag who knows he's good looking and that all the girls want him and actually uses that to his favor. Dante is a collector.. from the underworld. His mission is to collect Charlie. Now I appreciated Scott's portrayal of Charlie. She isn't a beauty queen, her teeth are crooked, her face isn't pimple free, and she even has a limp due to a previous childhood injury. I liked that Dante actually grew a conscious when it came to Charlie and he started liking her before her makeover.. though you would have heard me grunting over the whole makeover plot line. I enjoyed the Collector. It wasn't spectacular but I liked some of the surprises that popped up towards the end. I was a bit shocked with how some of the characters were connected and handled. I do hope Dante's big headedness and egotistical tendencies are slightly muted in The Liberator. I would recommend it to all fans of bad boys in books as well as paranormal YA lovers. 

Born Wicked (The Cahill Witch Chronicles, #1)

Jessica Spotswood
February 7, 2012

4/5 stars

Add to Goodreads 

I picked up Born Wicked in anticipation for an author event that Jessica Spotswood was attending. I have to say that I am glad I was finally able to read it. I am a huge fan of paranormal magic novels (Sweep & Immortal Beloved series) and I am glad I finally found another one worthy of my time. In Born Wicked, the first sign of a girl being a witch would win her a ticket at an asylum or killed. Think of the Salem Trials in your history class. For Cate Cahill, she not only has to suffer losing a mom, but she also has to hide the fact that she is not only a witch, but her two younger sisters are also witches. Kinda hard when one is too young to understand the concept of consequences, while the other is in her rebellious stage. Not only that, but in six months she has to decide whether she will get married to her childhood friend or pledge her life to the sisterhood. Cate was such an endearing protagonist; she was level headed, thought of her sisters first and then herself, but also wasn't bullied around by anyone. I hated her sister, Maura who seemed to have so much animosity towards Cate, as opposed to Tess who was such a sweet kid. Finn, the love interest didn't disappoint either. I love how you get to find out little bits of the mystery here and there and the addition of new characters that become Cate's allies. The ending wasn't a big surprise but it opens up a whole new world for Cate and the readers and I can't wait to start my copy of Star Cursed, the sequel of Born wicked (already read it and loved it! 4.5/5 stars).