Review: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

Goodreads Summary:

A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own.

Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can't determine what's wrong, her parents decide to move to Montana for the fresh air. She's lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying—and she's helpless to change anything.

Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It's an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother's illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there's no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.

The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can't trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Publication Date: February 25, 2014

Although you’re bound to hear a lot of comparisons of Fire & Flood to The Hunger Games, I still found the novel enjoyable. There were enough unique elements to feel like the author was telling her own story. I found myself invested in Tella’s journey and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

As far as characters, I think I liked the secondary characters a bit more than Tella. I liked Tella, but her thought process didn’t always make sense to me. I think the author is funny and I like her writing style, but Tella worrying about her hair and makeup just took away from the sense of urgency in the plot. She came across as shallow and it made it difficult to root for her to win the race.

That being said, I still liked the setting and the rest of the characters were great. Guy was mysterious and heroic and Tella’s Pandora named Madox was amazing. When Tella was interacting with Madox, I found Tella the most likable. The romance wasn’t a major part of the plot, but there was room left for the relationship to develop. The villains were scary and since there is a competition, loyalties changed throughout the book.

The world building was a little vague for a lot of the novel, but I was glad to see it come together at the end. There was a lot of excitement in the final third of the novel and I felt the conclusion built up my anticipation for the next book.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!

Review: The Collector by Victoria Scott

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Publication Date: March 25, 2013

Oh my Dante Walker, you have stolen my heart! I have to give the author credit for creating probably one of the most memorable characters in my recent reads. Dante was so much more than a typical YA bad boy.

Since I’ve heard a lot of hype surrounding this book, I had modest expectations. It seems like I have a tendency to end up not loving overhyped books. However, I was hooked from the beginning and it took me only a couple of sittings to finish The Collector.

The Collector is told from Dante’s POV. I can imagine not a lot of readers liking Dante at the beginning. He’s pretty rotten to everyone, including Charlie, the girl whose soul he has to collect. He didn’t bother me though because I couldn’t take him seriously. He talks like a wannabe gangsta and his lines kept reminding me of Seth Green’s character from Can’t Hardly Wait. It was obvious he was trying too hard to be a bad a** and there was a good guy just waiting to come out.

Charlie was also a lot different than a lot of YA heroines. She’s described as homely and is picked on brutally by her classmates. There are a few scenes in the beginning that definitely made me uncomfortable and had my heart breaking for Charlie. I loved how Dante began looking out for her, although she was only supposed to be his assignment.

The secondary characters were all developed exceptionally and I loved them all. Blue, Annabelle and Max were all great and they had their own share of humorous lines.

The plot was good without a ton of mythology to learn in order to follow the story. The novel moved at a good pace and although the book is part of the series, the end resolved most of the major conflicts. The romance had me swooning and I’m curious to see where it goes.

Loved, loved, loved this book! I was in the mood for a fun book with a sweet romance and this was the perfect choice!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.