Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Series: ?
Release Date: September 3rd 2013
Pages: 432
Rating: ★★★★
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.
Review:
If you thought there weren't any good vampire stories left, than check out this book!
Short Summary
In this book vampires have come out of the shadows, only to be locked up in special 'Coldtowns', together with all infected people who are 'Cold'. When all of Tana's friends are killed at a party by vampires and her ex-boyfriend Aiden is infected, she travels to Coldtown, accompanied by mysterious vampire Gavriel.
Characters
Tana was a very strong and caring character. She tries to save her ex-boyfriend from her mother's fate, even though he treated her badly. She stands her ground in difficult situations and doesn't back down from a fight.
Gavriel was the sort of mysterious character with a dark past that you just couldn't help but love. He switched between being very sweet and funny and being a bit mad and bloodthirsty. He was certainly a very interesting character.
I wasn't really a fan of Aiden. He behaved himself throughout the book and was pretty funny at times, but I just could not get over what Tana told us about their relationship and how messed up it was. Once I read that my opinion of him was ruined and nothing could change it during the course of the story (even though he redeemed himself a little at the end).
There were quite a lot of character in this book and sometimes I had a little difficulty in remembering who was who.
And no, there was no love triangle! Tana was clearly done with Aiden, but she was attracted to Gavriel. Their romance was a very small part of the book, but very interesting. I hope that if there comes a sequel, the writer will develop their relationship some more.
I wasn't really a fan of Aiden. He behaved himself throughout the book and was pretty funny at times, but I just could not get over what Tana told us about their relationship and how messed up it was. Once I read that my opinion of him was ruined and nothing could change it during the course of the story (even though he redeemed himself a little at the end).
There were quite a lot of character in this book and sometimes I had a little difficulty in remembering who was who.
And no, there was no love triangle! Tana was clearly done with Aiden, but she was attracted to Gavriel. Their romance was a very small part of the book, but very interesting. I hope that if there comes a sequel, the writer will develop their relationship some more.
Vampires
Black gave the much used vampire story a new, modern twist in this book. Vampires are not in hiding or ruling over humans. Instead they are locked up in Coldtowns and vampires are the new media hype. Live feeds from Coldtown, vampire hunter TV shows, forums, vampires are everywhere. Vampires are romanticized by the people and the Coldtowns portrayed as the ultimate place to go and party and become famous. But the Coldtowns are really not as glamorous as they seem. The vampires are just as they are known to us readers, cold and bloodthirsty. I really liked the Coldtown idea and the way the writer shows how horrible things can easily be made positive by the media.
Plot
The story is mostly told from Tana's POV, though we get some glimpses of Gavriel's past and of the life outside Coldtown from Tana's sister. It is quite action packed, it has a quick pace and it was an absolute page turner. Black is not afraid to describe some gory scenes, but I like that in vampire books. The book had an open ending. There is no news about a sequel being written, so it could be a standalone, but there's definitely an opening for a next book.
Conclusion
An original vampire story and a great read! I really hope there's going to be a sequel.
