{Blog Tour and Book Review} The Liberator by Victoria Scott

Welcome to my stop on The Liberator blog tour hosted by YA
Bound Book Tours.  Click HERE to see the full blog tour schedule!

Author: Victoria Scott

Genre: YA paranormal, fantasy
Published: August 27th 2013
Publisher: Entangle Teen
Pages: 350
Source: E-ARC from YA Bound

Goodreads Summary:

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.

   

My Rating of this Book – 3 out of 5 stars

My Review:

The Liberator was a roll coaster ride of action and swoon, but was disappointing in the fact that it was totally not what I had hoped for based on the summary.

I’ve never really been a fan of Dante—or Charlie, for that matter—but I felt he had grown throughout The Collector. That came crashing down in the first several chapters of second book. I felt he was starting from square one or rock bottom again. He eventually grew up, realizing his mistakes, thank goodness, but I almost divorced the book because of this. Fortunately, I really wanted to meet Aspen and see how she would turn the tides of the novel before I gave up entirely.

I’m glad I waited. Aspen is amazing character! Actually, she’s the best of the series, in my opinion. She’s one hell of a tough girl, and I like her rough exterior attitude. The thing was, I expected this novel to be more about her and liberating her soul. It really wasn’t. You practically learn next to nothing about her, and she was continually pushed into the background, especially when Charlie reentered the picture. I want to know more!

Now, Charlie is still not my favorite character—not like Aspen, or even Blue—but by the middle of the novel, she finally woke up, becoming more aware of what was going on around her and the dangers everyone was putting themselves into. She even became a little kick-ass herself, learning to fight for those she loves. Overall, I was impressed.

Okay, that’s the sum up of the characters, but what about the plot?  Well, truthfully, I read this series more about for the plot than for the character themselves. And The Liberator weaves in and out of the action, making it a faster paced than The Collector. Admittedly, there were still times I was completely bored, but the swoon in those parts made up for it. The Liberator was definitely steamier than the first novel!

However, I found the ending frustrating. First off, Hell was overdone. I like the philosophy of “less is more,” and Hell just had too many challenges that were really out of this world. It was so unbelievable that it wasn’t even scary. I think if it had been toned down—say reduce the horrors of Hell to the Hall of Mirrors, the collapsing room, and maybe some demons—it would have made the pace faster and the events more exciting.

Second, I don’t understand what Dante’s role in God’s big plan is. So far, I only know he was meant to collect Charlie’s soul in the first novel and liberate Aspen’s soul in the next, but don’t understand the big picture. And the end only made his part in this plan even more cryptic.

In all, I liked The Liberator. I’m not sure how many more novels will be in this series, but I’m hoping to find out more about Aspen, Dante, and Charlie and their roles in the “big picture” in the third novel. Also, I’m curious about Kraven and his past. Fingers crossed!

***GIVEAWAY***

1 signed copy of THE LIBERATOR and a signed copy of TWILIGHT, international.–> a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

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