Go Volunteer: The Collector by Victoria Scott

Overall Rating:  2 stars

Addiction Level:  I read it every waking moment.

Believe-ability:  Some aspects were real; others were not.

Dystopia:  It’s a mixture of real life and paranormal life.

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The Collector started out with great promise.  Dante, a smart-alec dead human turned demon, enters the stage.  He’s cocky and funny.  Do I want him to be my best friend?  No.  Nonetheless, I like his ‘tude.  His goal is to collect a girl’s soul for the Boss Man, aka Lucifer.  He’s got plenty of swag, and he struts his stuff.  The first section was funny.

After the first section the story plummets.  Dante begins to a gain a conscience as he realizes the repercussions of his actions.  He feels guilty for his actions.  The story becomes a sappy love story with a predictable story line and nice, neat ending. 

To add insult to injury Scott’s version of good and bad and heaven and hell are not fully developed and are wrong.  I was intrigued and impressed at Scott’s nod to Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost.  However, she did not take either allusion far enough, and she did not successfully create her own world.  [Scott’s world does not have nine levels of hell as in the Inferno.  (See Cheryl Bentley’s Petronella & The Trogot for a modern Inferno.)  Scott was also not true to Paradise Lost.  Humans cannot become angels and demons.]

Scott’s theology is based on works where good outweighs evil.  She seems to believe that a little good can conquer a lifetime of bad.  Dante’s good act redeems him from a lifetime and afterlife of evil.  It is like a mass murderer saving a kitten from a tree and being pardoned for his life of crime. (Thanks Tina!)  Really? 

In reality there is nothing we can do to gain God’s favor.  There is no deed good enough.  This is why Christ had to die for our sins.  Those that believe in Jesus have eternal life. 

There is one redeeming quality of this book:  Charlie’s organization, Hands Helping Hands.  People help each other with the promise to help others.  For example, Charlie’s group did yard work for an elderly lady who then volunteered to answer phones for a crises center.  It is paying it forward at its best. 

Rather than read this book, go out and volunteer.  Help someone who needs help and ask them to pass it on.