Review- The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

[olec]

I had heard about this book for a while, but hearing that it was about vampires I looked to other books instead. After the outbreak of Twilight it seemed like every other book was about vampires and I was getting sick of it. Despite this I continued to hear only good things about this book and YouTube reviewers I watch were saying such good things about it I wanted to read it for myself and I am so glad I did.

This book was fantastic, it took such a different approach to vampires I never knew what to expect and it almost felt like another supernatural creature altogether. It is about a girl named Tana, who after waking up after a party finds all the other people from the party dead. The only people who she finds alive are her ex-boyfriend Aidan, now infected and a boy she doesn't know, but that she realizes is a vampire, Gavriel. Tana sets out to save them, taking them to the only place where vampires can go Coldtowns. Coldtowns were created after vampires were found out, as a way to contain the vampire infection from spreading further and now offers the salvation they all need.

Tana is a very like-able character. Instead of following the male character, like a lot of female characters seem to do, she takes charge of the situation her-self. She helps the two guys, and after seeing the dead bodies in the other room it is quite impressive she isn’t completely freaking out. As the book continues you realize this is a big part of who she is. Tana is not willing to sit back and take things as they are. She, despite fear manages to continue on and save her-self and others around her. The other characters are also so good; Aidan had me laughing so much. Any part with him taking I couldn’t help a smile lifting the corner of my mouth. Gavriel, is also such a good character and I love him as a vampire, literally fighting to stay sane. He adds a really dark tone to the book that I thought made it work really well as a vampire book.

The plot itself is very interesting and engaging I never wanted to put the book down. You are kept engrossed, wanting to know what will happen next. The world building Black does makes this book seem somehow realistic like 20 years from now this could be going on in our world. The story had so many twists and turns that you never knew what would happen next. That part of it surprised and impressed me the most. I kept getting expectations about what would happen and I would think I had it all figured out and then I would read the next page and everything would change.
Overall I was really impressed with the book and somehow Black made the vampires work. She made then both beautiful and dark showing the monstrous part of them a lot of YA vampire books don’t dwell on … Twilight. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars or 95%, so if you are into YA paranormal/vampire books or even if you just want something a little darker this is a must read.

[LivreAmour217]

I'm not really into modern vampire stories, but I like Holly Black so I might give this one a chance. Thanks for the review.

[ashley_claire]

For me, this book started off really strong and much different than other YA vampire books. Tana wakes up after a night of partying to find she is the only one who has survived through the night. These first few pages gave me such high hopes for this book. But by the time I found myself halfway through the book I really just wanted to quit. Nothing was happening. Every other chapter is flashbacks to fill in personalities for the main characters. And I suppose give the book a little bit of plot, because other than that there isn't much. I was just so disappointed that this book fell flat for me because, like I said, the first chapter really reels you in.

[Miss_A]

Oh I want to read this. I love her Curse Workers Trilogy.

[Jesska6029]

I added this book to my "to read" list a long time ago, and I have yet to pick it up. I really liked the detail of your review, and I will definitely be picking up a copy of this book!