Book Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott

The Collector by Victoria Scott

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I move me a good Angel vs. Demon situation and that’s pretty much what’s going on in this book.

So, The Collector is all about super mega hottie Dante Walker, a rich kid who died in a car accident and now works for Boss Man (aka Lucifer.) as a Soul Collector, which means he gets people to sin, which earns their soul seals and when you have so many you get collected by Hell and yeah. Fun stuff. Jk. Dante likes this job and he is the best at it!

Dante’s latest assignment from Boss Man is to collect Charlie Cooper’s soul in ten days and if he does so he will get a promotion that earns him a permanent ticket out of Hell. But Charlie is nothing like he expects. She is ugly, with frizzy hair, bad teeth, acne, walks with a limp and has glasses. Charlie is exactly what every guy would ignore for the hotter girls but in the ten days that Dante has to collect her soul he starts to see that it’s what is inside of her that got him this assignment. Charlie has the potential to change the world for the better and Boss Man doesn’t want that to happen. Dante struggles between saving this innocent girl and getting his promotion that will allow him to live normally again.

AHHHH!!!!!! This book was the last book ill read in 2015. Sadface. But it was SO. GOOD. I remember reading about this book early this year around February and thinking “Ooo! I want to read this. It sounds so good!” and I was right. There was so much humor and sass! Like I said at the beginning of this post, I LOVE stories about angels and demons. And if you do then this book is for you!!!

Recommended age:

16+ due to so much foul language.

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

The feels didn't kick in until the latter half of the book. Dante remembering his family before he died and all. Pretty emotional! And well there’s Charlie and Dante that you can’t help but ship. Do they have a shipname? They need one. Chante? Oh and when that one person died near the end and even though I didn't like them I still felt bad.

6.5/10

Violence:

There were a few punches, a shot or two fired, but nothing really bad. We’ve all seen worse.

4/10

Sexual content:

Lots of kissing and sexual references. Two characters make out on the hood of a car. Lol!

5.5/10

Crude language:

This book was good, don’t get me wrong BUT it was littered with trashy, not-so-classy language that was pretty unnecessary. Every curse word was used multiple times, other than GD. And just my personal opinion but I HIGHLY doubt the ones working for Big Guy (God) would be cursing like the rest of the world.

8/10 (maybe 9)

Other elements/comments:

Underage drinking and so forth.

Overall:

Overall I enjoyed it. I thought Charlie was adorable and Dante was hilarious. I'm a sucker for wit and sass!

8/10

Xoxo

- Sarah

Book Review: Fire in the Woods by Jennifer M. Eaton

Fire in the Woods by Jennifer M. Eaton.

When an aircraft crashes in the woods near Jess’s home on a military base, Jess’s dream guy falls out of the sky. Literally. But David has secrets and a serious body temperature problem. When she finds him out in the woods, Jess can’t fathom leaving such a cute and injured guy all alone out there, especially since some fugitive is on the loose. Jess sneaks David back to her house hoping to help him, hoping that her overly protective dad isn't home. Jess gets the stranger home, feeds him and keeps him warm but the next morning when she wakes David is gone.

Jess can’t help but wonder what is with this strange guy, he doesn’t seem to know anything about anything and has a striking and eerie resemblance to her favorite actor and he can’t stay warm. Jess isn't dumb and soon puts two and two together that David is the guy the Military is looking for. But why you ask? Well, the guy is an alien. And all he wants is to go home! But the Military doesn’t  care. When David tells Jess his secret, his purple skin had been exposed and he had to confess. With the help of a friend they flee the military base to search for the location there David’s people will come pick him up. And somewhere along the way Jess falls in love, but she can’t truly be with a guy who isn't from her world, not even a human. Plus his people have other plans, destructive plans, for Earth and if these plans are carried out then it will mean the end of the human race. It’s only the bond between David and Jess that can save the planet!

Okay so Fire in the Woods was SO GOOD. I couldn’t stop reading it!

Recommended age:

13+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

There are some sweet moments between Jess and David and Jess and her father. Even though Jess and David are from other worlds you just kinda wish they could be together!

4.5/10

Violence:

There were a couple of scenes where there was some fighting. Jess is strung up by her wrists. David kills in order to be free and with Jess.

5/10

Sexual content:

David and Jess share a few kisses.

3/10

Crude language:

At the beginning of the book there were 0 crude words and I loved it! But throughout the rest of the book there were minor curse words used such as, “damn” or “hell”

4/10

Other elements/comments:

I liked the holding back on cursing. Just because its YA doesn’t mean a book needs hard core crude language to be cool or successful.

Overall:

Over all I really liked the story and can’t wait to read book 2 Ashes in the Sky!

8/10

Xoxo,

Sarah

Haunted: A Short Story by Sarah Jones

Haunted.

A Short Story by Sarah Jones.

“Hey, Jake. It’s me, as always. So, Jessica and I were at the mall today,” I say into my overly outdated phone. I pace the floor and continue talking. 
   
   “We stopped by the little pretzel shop that you and I used to go to every Friday after the football game. Their garlic pretzel bites are still the bomb. I don’t know if anyone even says that anymore. Of course, being there made me think of you. It made me think if how you used to tease me, ‘Molly, if you eat those I am not kissing you,’ you used to say. Ha. Anyway I just had to tell you that…” I pause then just say it. What I want to tell Jake every day for two years now, what I do tell him most days. “I miss you. God, I miss you. I miss it all, what we had, what we could have had, what we were going to have. I so wish our relationship hadn’t ended, not how it did, anyway. I love you, Jake Ford.”

   

   I hang up the phone. The time on the voicemail recorder would have run out in less than a minute anyway. Voicemails. I have been leaving my ex-boyfriend voicemails every few days, sometimes every day, or more, for two years. I talk about anything, my day, how my parents don’t get me, gossip, what I'm learning in school, what colleges I applied for, how I miss us, him. And for two years he hasn’t returned my calls. And he won’t. He never will and I have accepted that. He can’t, because he is dead. Jake Ford, the love of my life from eighth until tenth grade, died in a car crash. Still, it’s a mystery as to why he ran off of the road, over the railing of the bridge, down into the cold, dark water below.

   

   The clock on my teal desk reads 11:47 pm. I take out the Vogue magazine that I purchased earlier and flip to the article on Jennifer Lawrence. That woman is hilarious! And Katniss it a total baddie! How could anyone not like her? I'm halfway through reading the three page feature when my phone rings. It’s a familiar ringtone. Everything by Lifehouse. I freeze. I set that as his ringtone, only him calling makes that song play. My heart flips inside my chest. I get chills. Chills. Chills on top of chills. My heart pounds inside of me. I slowly turn my head and look at my phone, that music once seemed romantic, now it just seems eerie. Splayed on the screen is his name, Jake Ford, with ‘Calling’ under it.

   

   My heart pounds harder. My hand shakes as I reach out for the cell phone. I press the green button and hold the phone to my ear. “Hello?” I say cautiously, holding my breath now. Who would have his phone? It’s been in the same place for two years. His sock drawer in his room. I hear what sounds like breath passing over the microphone. Oh God. “Hello?” I manage to squeak out again. “J-Jake?” I know it can’t be. It’s dumb of me to even ask, he has been dead for years. Dead for years. Dead for years. “Who is this?!” I demand. I don’t give them time to respond.

   

   “Why do you have his phone?! How dare you?” I am almost shouting. Tears burn my eyes. “Who is this?” When I hear the breath again I gasp and stifle a sob. Dial tone. I hang up and toss my phone in front of me onto my pink comforter.

   

   “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” I am breathing heavily. I sit on my bed with my head in my hands. I can't stop shaking. Why does it feel like I'm being watched? I'm really wishing my parents were home right about now. The house is too quiet, save for Everything still ringing through my head. It couldn’t have been Jake. He is gone. Departed. Dead. Someone just had his phone. But who? My chills just seem to be growing. A chill sets over me like a blanket of snow, but it’s summer. I grab the phone again, it's freezing. I look up into the mirror that hangs above my desk, something must be seriously wrong with me. My reflection is cloudy. I stand and touch the glass, I gasp. It's covered in ice...  That’s when I hear it.

   My name.

   
   His voice.

   I whip around clutching a pillow that I didn't even know I grabbed. No one is here. No one is in my room and yet I heard him. I heard him. My heart threatens to come out of my chest. Paranoia sets in. I close the curtains and stand in the middle of my room. Suddenly, I have to know. I have to know what is going on. I have to go find whoever is torturing me this way.

   

   Jumping off of my bed, gripping my phone, I run. Running to the only place I know to start. His parents’ house, his house, his room.

   

   Three blocks, six houses on the left, five on the right, one scaled tree and one silently opened window later, I am standing in Jake's old room. Directly above the living room where his parents are watching tv. It is a museum in here, a mausoleum, a tribute, or reminder, sealed and set in stone, frozen this way forever. Forever. Forever. Or maybe not… careful to avoid all the spots in the wooden floor I remember that creak, I walk over to the dresser and pull open the second drawer. It’s still full of his socks. I move a pair over. It’s there, the phone, right where he always left it when he snuck out. I pick it up and press a button, it’s off. If his phone is here, off, cold then who called me? I let out a breath I had been holding. I don't believe in ghosts, I tell myself.

   

   The air behind me shifts, my chills return, colder than before. No, Molly, nothing is there. Just calm down. Inhale, exhale.

   
   “Molly?” he says softly. Almost a whisper. My body tenses.

   
    I swallow the scream that is rising in my throat. I swallow hard. I turn around slowly, death grip on my phone. My heart is a bass drum. My ragged breaths come far too quickly. The moonlight sifting through the open window doesn’t help me see him much but his dark figure looms in the shadow between his bed and the closet, slightly taller than I remember. He steps out into the light.

   

   I intake a sharp breath.

Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed this little chiller!

Xoxo,

Sarah