Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black


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!
Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

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!