The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
ARC received from fellow blogger, Jen at Jenuine
Cupcakes. Thanks!
Release Date: On
Shelves Now
Reviewed by: Middle
Sis Jenn
The Sisters Say:
Gripping and Sexy, Crossing my Fingers for a Sequel!
One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.
I like vampires, but that being said, I really haven’t read
many books centering on them. So, I’m
not one of those people who is burned out on them; and even if I was, I would
have loved this one! Though not overly
unique, I still felt like Holly Black created a new and exciting world where
twists and turns and shadows and blood will chase you into your darkest
nightmares.
I really liked the main character, Tana. I loved how resolute she was about the
vampire epidemic. She knows exactly how
she feels about ever becoming one, and even when she meets an alluring,
somewhat “good” vampire, she still doesn’t waver (even though I wanted her
to). She’s tough and doesn’t let fear
knock her down; instead, she faces the darkness head on. Now, her kind heart did get on my nerves at
some points. There were times when I
wanted her to just say, “Screw it,” and leave, letting the vampires and “soon
to be” vampires deal with their own problems.
I kind of wish it was a sense of adventure or desire to know that spurs
her to action, instead of her wanting to help everyone.
Now Aiden (the ex) drove me nuts!!! He is such a jerk, and I just wanted someone
to smack him really hard in the nose.
But, like I always say, if an author can elicit a strong emotion (even a
negative one) from me, then he or she is doing something right!!! Way to go Holly on the annoying, jerkface
Aiden.
And then there’s Gavriel, the mysterious, somewhat mad
vampire. He reminded me of the vampire
version of the Mad Hatter. He rambles
these cryptic messages and seems to always be deep in thought. I LOVED this about him. He straddles the lines of madness and sanity,
and every so often, he would dip to one side of the other and we would discover
something new and amazing about him. I
am so hoping that Holly writes a sequel just so I can see more of him!
There was plenty of action in this one, and while the plot
was slow at times, it wasn’t so much so that it lost my attention. I also loved the idea of the “Coldtowns,” paralleling
those of the ghettos during World War II.
It was intriguing to see how the other side lived, and furthermore, to
see how fear can make people do horrible things. In this case, the fear was warranted, as
vampires are blood thirsty, dangerous creatures. But they weren’t like rabid vampires, they
were cold and calculating, embracing politics to manipulate the Coldtowns along
with the rest of the world.
Overall, this was a great read, and I highly recommend it to
vampire and Holly Black fans!
