Short review written August 6th on Goodreads & Instagram – edited here October 26th

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Author: Holly Black

Series status: Standalone novel

Publisher: Indigo

Number of pages: 419

Synopsis

(found on Goodreads)

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.

Review

I didn’t know what to expect from this book, as I don’t usually read stories based on vampires.

I found the idea interesting, about Coldtowns and how people became vampires. It didn’t take me long to get into the story, and it seemed to be a quick enough read, despite needing to take time to explain the world and way of life (or not). It was a fun read, nothing to be taken seriously. I personally don’t like the idea of vampires because they’ve been used to much and glamourised, which I think is sort of the situation here. I mean, vampire are supposed to be bloodthirsty and terrifying, yet while reading this book I didn’t get the sense that they’re scary at all.

The setting itself I found intriguing and like the idea of there being a secluded area full of danger. However, like the vampires, it didn’t seem as dangerous as it was initially made out, as if it had been hyped up throughout.

I enjoyed the flashbacks every so often, as they helped me understand the characters reactions better, due to what they’ve already been through. I felt that looking back at their past added to their personality and built up the characters more. I had a small issue with the relationships between the characters, as they seemed kind of odd to me, and I couldn’t imagine those people acting the way they did in real life.

I didn’t find myself getting too attached to the characters, and was just sort of reading about them. Sometimes I found Tana (the main character) to react quite strangely regarding the situation and her past. It just seemed a bit far fetched and unbelievable that she would be so composed and forgiving throughout the entire story, especially once you learn what happened to her in the past.

The blurb gives way too much away. I mean, it pretty much tells you the most story and you have to go through the book reading the entire thing in detail just to find out the ending. I hate it when a synopsis just tells you most of the story. It kind of brings around a disappointment when you finish the book and think is that it?

As I said before, I liked the theory behind the vampires and it was a fun, quick, easy read. I just wish a bit more would have happened in the story. Either that or the blurb didn’t tell you so much.

However, the book was interesting enough and the ending certainly left me wanting more since there were still some unanswered questions, so even though I don’t usually enjoy vampire novels that much…

I rate this 3//5 stars

I would like to add that anybody who does enjoy books about vampires will probably like this book a lot more than I did.

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