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.
5 STARS
I ended up picking this book up on a whim. I was scrolling through my cloudLibrary app looking for an audiobook to listen to because I want to start incorporating audiobooks into my reading schedule more than I have been. And I saw that The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was available so I snagged it and listened to it while reading along with the e-book version I've had on my kindle for way too long. I ended up loving this book so much and I am not only kicking myself for taking so long to finally read it but also I wish I had held off until October because this is such a good Halloween read. The audiobook was also amazing. The narrator, Christine Lakin did an amazing job at making me love the characters and really paint a picture in my head in what was happening. I think she did each voice exceptionally well and I would definitely recommend her as a narrator.
The characters in this book are great. I loved Tana so much as a main character. She is such a good person and despite all the shit that is thrown at her in this book she's constantly coming up with plans. I was constantly amazed at how she would keep rolling with punches. She's resilient, independent, sarcastic, and she thinks the best in people but she's not naive. At first I thought I was going to hate Aiden when the readers meet him initially. But he easily grew on me and I even found myself rolling my eyes and charmed by his act. He's childish, but in a pure innocent way. Gavriel was a character I kind of fell in love with. He's charming and mysterious. He has the same light childish vibe about him at times like Aiden does but there's also a layer of maturity and experience added to it. I loved his character so much and I felt myself immediately pulled into his character. I could easily have read a whole book just about him and his past.
Although there is a romance in this book, it's definitely put more on the back burner for the majority of the story as Tana is trying to get Aiden to a Coldtown because of his infection. The way Black's story used vampirism as an infection was really interestingly done and something I found plausible if it ever happened in real life. I never felt bored while reading this story and I found myself needing to keep listen to the audiobook, despite it being night and it got creepy at times. The audiobook has moments where suspenseful music will swell as a tension filled scene is going on and I was completely caught up in the story, my heart beating quick and getting jumpy at any sort of noise. A lot happens in this book and it feels like a full adventure. I love when books with fantasy or paranormal elements have journey plots because it makes the world building feel more developed, and I felt like this was definitely the case with The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I felt like I both understood the world that Holly Black has created but I can see it in my head as I read.
I really loved the writing. There are moments where I was so caught up in the story, reading and listening, where I felt like I was in the book. I winced and gasped at so many moments because I was so invested in the story. The dialogue is great, I loved Tana and Adrian's friendship along with Tana's dialogue with Gavriel. Between the descriptive writing, great dialogues, and amazing world building I am really in love with the writing. I have read Holly Black's Spiderwick Chronicles, which I loved, and I know I've read Tithe (but I don't remember it) so I've had some experience reading her work but I felt like this exceeded my expectations. It's been a long while where I've loved a vampire book this much. I think one of the reasons is that the vampires were never humanized. Throughout the entire book vampires are a threat, and they're terrifying lethal monsters. Although vampires in this book are modernized and there are characters in this book that are vampires you honestly can't help but fall in love with, you also are a bit wary of them the entire time. Because they can be unpredictable and turn on you. So Tana is always on edge and that helps it not romanticize vampires which I found really interesting. Kind of related to the same topic, Holly Black also comments on how people who are naive and reckless into thinking becoming a vampire is a good thing, or that the life of a vampire is glamorous and something to strive for. Which I really liked.
Overall I highly recommend this book and I super highly recommend the audiobook. I feel like it's so much easier to love a book if you're also listening to the audiobook (if the audiobook has a good narrator, which this one does). I recommend reading it whenever, but if you need a Halloween read this is definitely one I'd pick up when you're in the mood to be spooked.
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