The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black on August 12th 2014
Pages: 422
Goodreads
Coldtown was dangerous, Tana knew. A glamorous cage, a prison for the damned and anyone who wanted to party with them.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. And 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.
As someone who grew up loving vampire books, I was a bit hesitant to read this as I heard that Ms. Black’s inspiration to write it came from THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES by Anne Rice (which I have been a longtime fan of).
I ended up loving it. From the beginning of the story where Tana wakes up amongst a houseful of dead people – to the suspenseful ending — I LOVED IT. It’s the first vampire novel in a long time that I’ve loved so much — and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s whimsical and gory and fabulous.
A good vampire story is always hard to write. You could end up with something fluffy like Twilight — or something dark and almost horrible like Carmilla. Holly Black finds the ultimate balance between the two — writing a world where vampires are looked upon as gods by some, but everything is not as it seems. The story is a rich tapestry of blood, decadence, disgrace, and awesomeness. If you like a decent vampire story, I suggest reading THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN immediately.
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