Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Stand Alone

Format: Hardcover

Pages:  419

Rating: 2 Stars

How I Got It: Gift

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampires

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Synopsis courtesy of 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

It took me a week to read this which is very unusual for me. I just really didn’t care about most of the characters. And I felt like there was a lot to the world and vampire history, but it didn’t feel very well explored.

Gavriel is probably the most interesting character and the one I cared about the most. He’s definitely crazy and hard to understand, but I think that’s what I like about him. The only time I was emotionally invested was when he was in danger or his backstory was being explored.

At first, I liked Tana. I wouldn’t necessarily want to be her friend, but she was OK. But as the story continued I cared less and less. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you why.

There was definitely a lot to the world and I do believe that Ms. Black knows her world. But I wanted more. There were allusions to the other coldtowns including on that went dark. I want to know what happened. And I want more about how vampires are transformed/made. This is the danger of a stand-alone fantasy.

Thanks for reading!

Holly

Review: Amour Amour by Krista and Becca Ritchie

Format: Ebook

Rating: 4.5 Stars

How I Got It: Purchased

I was a little anxious about this book. Because of the Addicted series I have built up these authors in my head. But this was a great standalone novel. It ended up not being what I expected, but that’s probably for the best. And I love that it takes place in the same world as the Addicted series.

Thora is a great character and narrator. Although, I would always prefer dual POV. She’s a very strong, brave, and inspiring character. I’m not this kind of person, but she makes me want to take risks and really go for what I desire. It’s also great that she has resting bitch face. I also have to deal with this affliction so I immediately connected to her.

There are also a crap-ton of well-developed side characters. Nikolai-the love interest- is great, but I don’t have much to say about him. After all these books, I’ve noticed that’s what the sisters Ritchie do. They create a world with flushed out characters that create a family. And they explore more of Thora’s relationships than just the romance.

And the romance was great. It felt natural and was surprisingly sweet. I think my favorite thing is how they navigate and discuss giving up dreams for someone you love.

Oh, I just thought of something I want to say about Nik. Is he Cooper from Center Stage? There’s a scene where he walks into the audition that I’m pretty sure is right out of that movie.

I was so happy with this and would love for them to write more books about some of the side characters. I really like these characters and it would be fun spending more time in this world.

Thanks for reading!