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.
-Picture and Summary from Goodreads
Review:
The Coldest Girl In Coldtown is about a world gone cold. Vampires are an everyday thing locked behind reinforced walls that make up Coldtowns. Vampires have become romanticized by the constant live feeds coming out of the coldtowns causing many to voluntarily enter, knowing they will never leave, in hopes of receiving eternal life. However the vampires in coldtown are nothing like "Twilight" vampires. You won't find sparkly skinned beings in this book, instead they are the blood thirsty monsters from your nightmares.
The story starts off with Tana waking up in a bathtub after a crazy party. It doesn't take her long to realize vampires have attacked in the night. It appears she is the only survivor until she stumbles upon her ex Aidan and a chained up vampire, who goes by the name Gavriel. They inform her that there is a nest of vampires waiting for the sun to go down, if Tana and the boys don't get out now they will never get out. After staging their getaway Tana drives them to Coldtown where nothing is what she thought it would be.
Tana is such a tormented girl you would almost expect her to be depressing but she's not. She wants to do what's right and she still believes in people even when she has an excuse not to. She has this crazy past relationship with Aidan that was completely unhealthy, really it's still unhealthy even if they aren't dating. Then there is Gavriel who is crazy. Like padded rooms and straight jacket crazy. Tana is able to help him ground himself, basically helps him think clearly. While there is romance, it isn't overwhelming and it's far from being the center of the story. Holly Black's writing is dark and deep. It captivates you, wraps you up in the story. I'm not usually one for tons of inner dialogue but Holly made it work without letting it get boring. I recommend you read it and decide for yourself how you feel. My thoughts are that it was worth the read.
