Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Author: Holly Black

Publisher: Little Brown

Publishing Date: September 3rd, 2013

Pages: 419
Audio Length: 12 Hours and 6 Minutes

Genre: YA Paranormal
TW: Murder

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

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.

What made me pick this book up:
Well I had read this book previously, but I think I originally picked it up for two reasons. 
1.) Because it was Holly Black.
2.) Because of the cover/title. 
It sounded super creepy and horror ish.

What did I like about the cover:
I love the hand. I'm a hand girl, I love taking photos of them and such. It's probably weird. Oh well. 
I also love the colors of it. The dark blue background with the pale hand is gorgeous.

What made me read this book:
Originally because of the premise of the book. I was very big into vampires at one point (As were most people I feel, especially people around my age who read Twilight when they were 12) But also because I love Holly Black.

This time I read it because I needed it to finish out my monthly challenge.

What did I like the most:
I really liked the main character, Tana. She was strong, smart, and collected. 
I also really liked Gavriel too. I swear there will almost always be something sexy about a vampire. I felt myself wanting to read more about him, and that he wasn't in the book long enough. 

I do feel like the pace on this book was well done. It didn't have any slow parts and even though I've read it before, I didn't remember much of it and I felt myself needing to know what was going to happen. 
I felt like this book was a good thriller, it wasn't too bloody but enough because of the genre. It also had a good mystery going on in the book, to figure out who Gavriel was and how he was involved. 

I liked how it also talked about her sister and from her sister's POV too, just a little bit. I feel like it made the book just a little bit more emotional. 

What didn't I like:
I almost found it a little confusing with the vampires, who was who and what was going on. I had to rewind it just a couple times because I felt if I even missed two words I was lost. 

I also really hated her ex, really hated him. In fact I disliked most characters except Tana and Gavriel. I felt they were all very naive and... well stupid.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Absolutely.

Overall still a really great vampire book. I'm not big on vampires now but this one is well written.

“If she was going to die, she might as well die sarcastic.”
― Holly Black, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare), The Darkest Part of the Forest, and her new series which begins with The Cruel Prince in January 2018.


She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.