Scan barcode
A review by maddiemoiselle
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
4.0
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown—hereafter referred to as TCGICT—was my jam in high school. I wanted to pick it up as a fun refresher read because I could hardly remember the plot.
As previously stated in my reviews, I’m a hoe for vampires. Maybe it’s because Twilight was a defining moment for most girls my age. Maybe it’s just because vampires are the OG morally grey bad boys.
Im ALSO a hoe for Holly Black. Theoretically, this should be the book for me. And while there are things I ADORE about TCGICT, there are many that fell flat for me upon reread.
My favorite parts are as follows:
—GAVRIEL. HOT DAMN. His description coupled with his backstory and desire to suck blood have me in a chokehold. He is genuinely perfect, I have no qualms with his character.
—The sheer darkness of TCGICT sings to me. This is a dark book, full of blood and torture and death and kidnapping and evil. Holly does it well, though, because the overall tone isn’t depressing or hollow. She doesn’t write the darkness for the sake of darkness, she writes it to create ambiance and tension in the story. It doesn’t feel cheap, basically.
—Anything between Tana and Gavriel. I loved their first kiss, and was surprised it was as detailed as it was. Holly usually doesn’t go that ham but I am here for it. I also loved when they drank each others blood. If there is not an obligatory blood-drinking, sex-fueled scene in a vampire book IS IT EVEN A VAMPIRE BOOK? Thank you, Holly, for not failing us.
—I love the concept of Coldtown and how vampirism is treated like a virus. It is unique enough to put this read apart from other vampire reads.
Okay, on to my not so favorite things:
—There are not nearly enough scenes between Tana and Gavriel. This makes the romance not quite believable, although it still worked for me because the character development for Gavriel and Tana was sufficient. I just wish we had double the scenes of Gavriel and Tana and half the scenes of Midnight and Winter.
—There are wayyyy too many characters in this book. I know why Midnight and Winter are included but I didn’t care for them at all. I think Holly should’ve focused more on Aidan, Valentina and Jameson. I know that Midnight and Winter are used to propel the story but it still would’ve worked with minor adjustments if they were removed.
—Several parts of the story dragggg. I don’t know if we needed to spend as much time as we did driving to Coldtown. Or if we did, there should’ve been more action happening because it got dull. I also was bored when we got to Coldtown too. More things needed to happen to increase momentum.
—THERE’S NO SEQUEL?! It pains me deeply that Holly hasn’t written a sequel yet. I know she says she wouldn’t mind writing a sequel but I am remiss it isn’t official.
TCGICT is embedded with nostalgia for me and so I am probably biased but I really do love the story. Gavriel is in the same thread as Cardan for me, just more murderous, and so I love him dearly. I will continue to pray for a sequel and I hope someday my prayers will be answered
As previously stated in my reviews, I’m a hoe for vampires. Maybe it’s because Twilight was a defining moment for most girls my age. Maybe it’s just because vampires are the OG morally grey bad boys.
Im ALSO a hoe for Holly Black. Theoretically, this should be the book for me. And while there are things I ADORE about TCGICT, there are many that fell flat for me upon reread.
My favorite parts are as follows:
—GAVRIEL. HOT DAMN. His description coupled with his backstory and desire to suck blood have me in a chokehold. He is genuinely perfect, I have no qualms with his character.
—The sheer darkness of TCGICT sings to me. This is a dark book, full of blood and torture and death and kidnapping and evil. Holly does it well, though, because the overall tone isn’t depressing or hollow. She doesn’t write the darkness for the sake of darkness, she writes it to create ambiance and tension in the story. It doesn’t feel cheap, basically.
—Anything between Tana and Gavriel. I loved their first kiss, and was surprised it was as detailed as it was. Holly usually doesn’t go that ham but I am here for it. I also loved when they drank each others blood. If there is not an obligatory blood-drinking, sex-fueled scene in a vampire book IS IT EVEN A VAMPIRE BOOK? Thank you, Holly, for not failing us.
—I love the concept of Coldtown and how vampirism is treated like a virus. It is unique enough to put this read apart from other vampire reads.
Okay, on to my not so favorite things:
—There are not nearly enough scenes between Tana and Gavriel. This makes the romance not quite believable, although it still worked for me because the character development for Gavriel and Tana was sufficient. I just wish we had double the scenes of Gavriel and Tana and half the scenes of Midnight and Winter.
—There are wayyyy too many characters in this book. I know why Midnight and Winter are included but I didn’t care for them at all. I think Holly should’ve focused more on Aidan, Valentina and Jameson. I know that Midnight and Winter are used to propel the story but it still would’ve worked with minor adjustments if they were removed.
—Several parts of the story dragggg. I don’t know if we needed to spend as much time as we did driving to Coldtown. Or if we did, there should’ve been more action happening because it got dull. I also was bored when we got to Coldtown too. More things needed to happen to increase momentum.
—THERE’S NO SEQUEL?! It pains me deeply that Holly hasn’t written a sequel yet. I know she says she wouldn’t mind writing a sequel but I am remiss it isn’t official.
TCGICT is embedded with nostalgia for me and so I am probably biased but I really do love the story. Gavriel is in the same thread as Cardan for me, just more murderous, and so I love him dearly. I will continue to pray for a sequel and I hope someday my prayers will be answered