Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Title: Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: September 3rd 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover, Pgs 422
Genre: YA Vampire

What originally made me curious about this book was a comment that I had hear stating that if Stephenie Meyer knew how to write a vampire book, this would be it. Those are some harsh words, but that did pique my interest.

What should be the first book in a trilogy, the reader is introduced to Tana Bach as she wakes up in a bathtub only to discover that there has been a vampire attack at the home of a party that she has attended. Everyone is dead except for her and Aiden, who she finds bitten and tied to a bed with a vampire sitting in a chair across from him. Tana does not want to take any chances so decides to take them both to Coldtown. A place set apart for vampires where they can do no further harm to innocent people. Unfortunately, once you get into Coldtown, it is next to impossible to get out and this place seems to draw the non-colds as well who are fascinated by the perceived glamour.

This is where the vampire infection takes a turn. Apparently, a person does not become full turned, Cold, until 88 days after the first contact and then only if they drink human blood. If they can make it past this time, then they are free of the infection. Very few survive. Tana decides that there is no choice for her friend and the vampire Gavriel so out the window they go as a band of hungry vampires bust down the door to get to them. This is a game changer for Tana since she is scratched by a vampire as she heads out the window. Not knowing if she has been infected, as her mother had been, Coldtown is their only option.

What pursues is Tana discovering who Gavriel really is. This puts her life in deeper danger and the secondary characters that are there to help and hinder complicate matters greatly. Once in Coldtown, you do not know whom you can trust.

Gavriel has his ulterior motives to get to Lucien, the vampire that turned him. Midnight and Winter are in way over there heads solely to get more material for their blog. Jameson and Valentina, are two humans in Coldtown that are trying to help in the best ways that they can. In the end, it is up to Tana.

As far as young adult vampire books go, it is good, I did have a couple eye roll moments when it branched off into the Hunger Games for a scene two. The one thing that did save it for me was the lack of teen angst that seemed to have taken over the original Twilight books. Tana has her own mind and is determined to save herself and get back to her sister Pearl.

Depending on what exactly it is that you are looking for in a young adult book, this might be able to check off a couple of the boxes. Twists, interesting characters, betrayal, light romance, revenge and an open-ended conclusion that will leave the door unlocked for future installments.

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