Review - The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Author: Holly Black

Series: I have no idea :)

Pages: 419

Published:  September 3rd 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

 ISBN:  9780316213103

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss

 

Description: 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. 

I Give This ...

I wasn't sure on this one.  Vampires seem to be a passing fad.  But in remembering my love for Julie Kagawa's new vampire series, I thought I would give this one a shot.  Everyone raves about Holly Black, so I thought this might be a safe bet.

I ended up being conflicted about the story.  I LOVED the characters.  Tana is no nonsense especially when it comes to vampires.  Who wouldn't be when you watched your own mother battle the change and then subsequently watch your father have to decapitate her.  She knows exactly what to do when she wakes in a house full of dead teens and her ex (Aiden) in the beginning stages of the change.  She didn't count on having a heart for the vampire chained in the room with Aiden.   These 3 characters make the story.  Aiden drove me crazy occasionally, but I thought Black did an excellent job of bringing him to life.  He very much is the ex-boyfriend.   

We don't have to even mention Gavriel.  If you've read any reviews concerning this book, you can almost bet they've mentioned him.  I was enthralled with him.  Tana intrigued him in ways he never thought possible.  He acted how you thought a vampire would, but then he would turn around and do something completely out of the ordinary.  I seriously never knew if he was playing a game or found a small thread of human emotion when it came to Tana.

I also enjoyed the full blood and gore that came with this story.  From the beginning chapters to the very end, this is how vampires should be written.   So were did this story loose me?   I was extremely bored in some places.  The travel to Coldtown seemed to drag on way longer than it should. And once they were in the town it didn't seem to get any better.  It's like the book had these periods of intense action and death, and then there was nothing in between.

However, I want a sequel!  A story can not end this way and leave us hanging.  Hopefully Black brings these characters back for us!