Review: The Warrior(Dante Walker #3) by Victoria Scott

The Warrior by Victoria Scott

Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: May 6th, 2014
Pages: 352
Series: Dante Walker
Source: Netgalley/Publisher
Rating: 4/5
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War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.

Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.

Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith.

So we've come to the end. I've had to say good-bye to Dante. I'm going to miss his inappropriate comments and swag. But alas, I know that it won't be the end. I will re-visit this series again and again down the road. At least to go back to my favourite one liners. Dante never failed to make to me laugh with such classic lines as;

"Back the hell up, Kraven," I say. "Take you hand off her. I get that your trouser snake is angsty, but keep your temper in check."  

"You're attracted to me, I know. Everyone is. Don't start second guessing your sexuality. It's just a Dante Walker thing."

Dante and gang are gearing up for an epic battle between heaven and hell. So Kraven has the Liberators training their asses off. But the Collectors and Sirens are not making it easy. They're attacking the Hive any chance they get. It's obvious they're trying to weaken the Liberators as much as possible before the day of Reckoning is upon them.
Kraven has brought in an old professor named Oswald to help decipher the rest of the scroll. If he can figure out what is written there than the Liberators are sure to have the upper hand in the battle.
There's still the problem that Aspen, the solider, is stuck in hell. Dante dreams about her every night. Well they're more like nightmares. But he just knows Aspen is trying to tell him something. He's just got to figure it out.

Charlie, the savior, is by Dante's side in the Hive. But she's anything but safe. The Collectors are after her. And with all the break ins and close encounters it's pretty clear there's a traitor among the Liberators. But who is it? Dante is pretty sure he knows. And he's not shy about letting everyone know(when is Dante ever shy about anything?). He's going to protect Charlie with all that he can because there is no way he can lose her.

Dante is still Dante to the core. But he's done a lot of growing since we met him in The Collector. He's still full of swag and is not lacking in the confidence department. He still throws out inappropriate comments and innuendos at every turn. But with Charlie is his life and Aspen stuck in hell he's come to realize there's more important things than clothes, cars and parties. Dare I say he's calmed down a little too. There's still times when he's easy to fly off the handle. But he's got friends and a girlfriend who care and are there to stand by his side or bring him back down to earth. He's still struggling with his Liberator status. He doesn't trust the Big Guy yet. Kraven and Charlie keep telling him he needs to have faith. And faith is something Dante struggles with through most of the The Warrior.
Dante is such a softy when it comes to Charlie. I think their relationship is as strong as ever in The Warrior. Life is just getting the way. Aspen's fate lays heavily on both of their shoulders. As well as what they gathered from the scroll. What it foretells is not looking good for their future together. But they will fight together until the end.

Charlie is just so good and pure. She really is going to save the world from itself. She sees the good in everyone. And as the story goes on she just becomes even more kick-ass. Dante wants to protect her from everything, but it's obvious she doesn't need it. She can protect herself. She's got a destiny to fulfill and she's not shying away from it. Charlie knows what she needs to do to save the ones she loves.

I love that Scott gave us complete story arc's for all our favourite side characters too. Max, Valery, Blue, Annabelle and Kraven all had lives that I become invested in too. They are all fully developed characters and I needed to know what was going to happen to them in the end. Scott didn't forget about them. They were there throughout the books and all were given endings to their stories too.

The Warrior promises a lot of things. And I'd say it delivered. We get the big battle between heaven and hell. There's bloodshed, death, the return of unexpected friends and even the unexpected traitors are revealed. Of course we get to experience this through Dante's snarky and witty voice. It's the one thing that really made me fall in love with this series. Scott's writing is very unique and unforgettable. There is no way I will ever forget about Dante. He will be ingrained in my heart forever. He knows how to make me laugh even when something sad has just happened. Or something has just made me angry. Dante has it covered with a pick me up.

I'm left feeling very satisfied with The Warrior. Of course I'd love to see more of Dante and crew in the future. But like I said before, these books will definitely be ones I re-read down the road. One more Dante quote for the road, yea?

 "Look, cat, you and I are never going to be friends. She's going to call you Max, but I'm going to call you Shit Head. And if you think for one second-" The cat lies down in a tight little ball of nastiness and falls asleep. "Oh, please. Make yourself at home by sleeping on my scrotum."

Pow!

Brittany