Recent Read: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Tana wakes up in the bathroom of a friend's house after a high school party. She emerges to find a massacre of all of her classmates and friends, their blood drained by vampires that are nowhere in sight. The only one still alive is her sleazy ex-boyfriend who's been bitten and a slight vampire chained up on the floor. She narrowly escapes the bloated vampires responsible with her ex and chained vampire in tow. Unsure if she herself has been infected (when bitten, a victim is infected, but only after the victim drinks human blood will he turn into a vampire), she makes her way to the nearest coldtown, a quarantined city for vampires. Tana has a plan, but the risks are high, and she may never be able to return to the life she knew.

Holly Black's The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is no warm and fuzzy tale of vegetarian vampires. The danger is palpable in this fast-paced and grisly (in the best possible way) story. Tana is a clever and appealing heroine--someone who sees the monstrosity of vampires for what it is, as opposed to others who idealize and seek after the glamorous lifestyle they've seen on TV. It's this aspect of the story--the eerily familiar way the teens fantasize about another life and create communities through social media to explore, document and share that fantasy (and reality)--that gave me chills and brought some unexpected depth. In the saturated genre of young adult vampire novels, Holly Black has written something that feels fresh. It's an interesting mix of supernatural, horror, and even a bit of dystopia, and it's wholly enjoyable.

 

Happy Halloween