Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl in Cold Town
Author: Holly Black
Published: September 3rd 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

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.

Let’s play a game of never have I ever. Never have I ever read a Holly Black book before I read The Coldest Girl of Coldtown. Never have I ever been excited about reading it. Never have I ever thought that “ooooh, ME NEEDS TO READ THIS ASAP OR I’LL DIE.“ No. Nothing of sorts. Yeah, a bunch of people enjoyed it, Giselle and Rachel among them, but I still didn’t feel like reading it. Thank goodness for the magic that is audiobooks or else I wouldn’t have given it a try at all. Yay that I did.

“If she was going to die, she might as well die sarcastic.” 

I really liked the world. Kind of reminded me of The Sookie Stackhouse series (or the Southern Vampires series as some of you may know it) what with its world’s obsession with vampires and whatnot. Especially in the HBO’s TV show even more than in the books. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and it took me to another place entirely while I was listening to this book. However, I feel like not much happened plot-wise because all they do is ride to this destination, but you know, whatever—I’m not complaining over a road trip. I love me some great road trips. Then again, there were lots of twists and turns that took me by surprise. Like the story behind Gavriel? Yeahhhh.. that one indeed. Really enjoyed the family storylines; both of them—Gavriel's and Tana's.

The narrator did a very good job. I actually tried to listen to it once before, but the sample didn’t convince me that it was a book I’d like to “read“, but a few months later I gave it another go and totally ended up loving the narrator’s job so I got the book. The narrator gives the main character this good ole Daria vibe with her sometimes sarcastic and quite a bit serious voice that she does well and it suits Tana's personality extremely well. Plus, the narrator made good voice intonations so that I knew who was speaking without having the need to mention the name. That’s some skill here.

After about 60% of the book I got tired and was ready for the book to be over with. I think that a lot of it could have been cut, because for such a huge book, not much happened as I already said and that was kind of the downfall of it all in my eyes. What does it matter though? Most people love this novel to pieces. Also, I’m glad that this is a standalone and I don’t mind it in the least. We need more standalones and less series.

Overall, I am very pleased that I decided to give it a try. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. If it wasn’t for the ending dragging so much and the not-so-much-happening plot-wise in such a long book, it would have been a higher rating, but it is what it is hence we’re stuck with this rating. I still advise you to give it a go, because the writing and the ideas definitely make me want to explore more by Holly.

PS. I know this review didn't really say anything, but I don't have anything to say. It was likable, but nothing special except for the writing.

Overall rating: 3.4 out of 5.0
Stars: ★★★

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads