Skip to main content

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black- 5 stars

This book had me worried. I thought: "Another book about vampires, here goes the 'cheese'!..."
I could not have been more wrong! There is nothing cliche about Holly's Black take on vampires.It is so cleverly written and so different than everything else out there. I was happily and gladly surprised!
If you are looking for a romance book (twilight style), look away. There is a little romance here, but not much, just little snippets here and there. Enough to keep you wondering.
The book is described as a "wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing" (goodreads). The description could not be more accurate!

The main character, Tana, lives in a world very much like ours. Except of-course, there are vampires. Unlike other books with vampires on it however, vampires are neither hidden or taking over the world. The vampires are contained in Coldtowns, modern cities that got infected by vampires and were therefore guarded and blocked from the rest of the world. You can go in, but you are not allowed to get out. The world in which the book is set is very well written and very well described. And because it uses modern towns and locations it is somewhat very vivid in your mind while you read it. You feel a part of the book. Any author that manages to that deserves great praise.
Tana herself has a terrible past of vampire infection in her family and knows the threat of being sent to a coldtown well.
When we first encounter Tana she is like any other teen going to parties, struggling with an ex, etc. But she wakes up after a party very hangover to find everyone at the party dead. Well, almost everyone. And here is where the story gets interesting!
This is a rather dark yet mesmerizing story! Holly Black doesn't shy away from gory scenes but somehow manages to make them sound beautiful at the same time as it is terrifying, She has got an amazing talent for story telling! I honest can't believe I've never read anything of hers before. As soon as I am done with this review I will be adding some of her work to my TBR list.
Tana is through out the book a determined, strong and brave character. But not unafraid. And there is great beauty to that, she becomes a very relatable character fast.
Her rather odd connection to vampire Graviel is very well portrayed. It is not romantic until almost the end of the book, it is thrilling and frightening and exciting all at once. He is one scary powerful vamp!
I really love the way Holly Black portrays Gavriel. He is not a monster and he is not a goody vampire either. He is a badass vamp that has and is still causing bloodshed.  Here is"I would kill everyone in the world....or not, obviously..."
a little snipped (with spoilers cut out):
The twists and turns in the story are not many but enough to keep you on your toes. Enough to have you not wanting to put the book down. I read this whole book (it is not a small book) in 3 sittings. Why sleep when you can read right? haha



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Radiant Sin (Dark olympus) by Katee Robert [arc review]

This is sadly, not going to be a very popular review. I adore Katee Robert. But this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't a terrible book or anything like that, it just left me wanting more and very puzzled. Every one of the books in this series follows a certain trope and/or subplot genre. Neon Gods is very much a Greek Mythology retelling;  Electric Idol  has the plus size influencer and the sweet bad boy, it is a very modern contemporary romance;  Wicked Beauty , and my favorite so far has that hunger games/dystopian vibe. Radiant Sin  is a murder mystery. The 'one house'/'one train' style that has always been so popular. Here lies problem number one for me, because I don't like murder mysteries at all. Even on my teen years when I read a lot of mystery it was never those. Problem two- there were way too many characters in that house, and they all got their time on the page making it one very confusing mess. It was very hard to follow at times. I think this

The Book Hater's Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

The Book Hater's Book Club  at first appears to be about a struggling bookstore and its imminent sale. Elliot, the co-owner of Over the Rainbow Bookstore, started  The Book Hater's Book Club , a newsletter of reading recommendations for the self-proclaimed non-readers of the world, because he believed there was a book out there for everyone. Something I wholeheartedly agree with! For years he and Irma have kept the store going and always had a recommendation in hand. When you finish this book, you will have yet another list of books to read.  However, this book is about more than just books and a struggling bookstore. It is also about grief, the price of secrets, and a little more grief.  You see, Elliot is gone, and his grief-ridden business partner has agreed to sell the store to developers. Problem is, she didn't tell that to anyone until the deal was almost done. Which is making her daughters ask questions. Why is she selling? Is it grief alone? Is there something else

Promises and Pomegranates (Monsters & Muses #1) by Sav R. Miller

I was very excited about this read. The reviews are good, the people recommending it were people whose recommendations I have liked in the past. And in the end, at did like this one. But I will confess from the start that Promises and Pomegranates  did not blow me away. Blurb: Elena To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancĂ© and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay. Kal To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate. Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was she