The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black is the latest book that I have finished, and I have to say, it really kept me engaged throughout the book. This is a stand alone novel (as of now) that centers around vampirism. Holly Black has said that she is considering a sequel but it was not meant to be more than 1 book. The way it ended though definitely left it open for her to continue the series. With that said, if she chooses to leave it as a stand alone novel, I think it works with the ending because of how she built the main character, Tana.
Disclosure: Going forward there will be spoilers, so please read carefully! Also, this is strictly my opinion and how I felt about this book. I am not compensated for any of my reviews.
Tana is a young adult that is living in a world where vampirism has taken over. Because of that, there are quarantined towns called Coldtowns that house the vampires or people who are infected. You can fight off the infection if you do not drink human blood after you are infected for at least 88 days. The book starts off with Tana waking up at a party where there was a massacre of her friends being killed by vampires. One of her friends, Aidan, was spared but was infected and wants to become a vampire. There was one vampire, Gavriel, left who was chained up and Tana helped him and Aidan get to a Coldtown. Tana also thought she might be infected so she wanted to get to a Coldtown as well to protect her family. Eventually, once in Coldtown, Aidan turns into a vampire and Tana tries to survive and help her new vampire friend, Gavriel. In doing so, Gavriel and Tana develop feelings for each other and they end up helping each other defeat an ancient vampire that is the cause of the vampirism that runs rampant throughout the world (throughout all of that, lots of turning points occur, such as Tana being bitten and killing a vampire). The book ends with Tana locking herself up to fight off the infection for 88 days and she plans to record it. Gavriel ends up coming in the room with her and vows to stay by her side during this time. The book ends with Tana allowing him to stay as she fights off the infection.
Because Tana was against becoming a vampire throughout the entire book, it is reasonable to assume that she ends up fighting off the infection and does not become a vampire. So, I can see not needing a sequel. However, I can also see how the ending can be left up to interpretation. I wouldn’t mind a sequel at all – especially if Tana ends up turning. I think it would be great to have this world be continued and to follow Tana and Gavriel’s adventures for another book.
Why a 3/5?
I ended up giving this book a 3/5 for a couple of reasons. First, the beginning felt slow to me. It barely kept my attention. Also, every other chapter was a flashback. These worked well to give insight into Tana’s reasoning and who she is as a character as well as give some backstory to Gavriel’s ancient life to build up to the twist at the end, but, even though they were short, I felt that there were better places to put those flashbacks. They got more interesting and engaging around the halfway point. It wasn’t until just under halfway that I really felt engaged with the characters and wanted to keep coming back – this feeling only got stronger towards the end. I couldn’t put it down once I reached about 3/4ths of the way through.
Secondly, throughout the entire book Tana makes it clear that she does not want to be a vampire and recalls many moments of her mother trying to fight off the infection from when Tana was a child. But, once she gets bitten by the vampire she ends up killing at a party in Coldtown, she starts acting like she wants to be a vampire. At first she focuses on fighting it off but the second she can, she starts drinking vampire blood from a wounded vampire (this helps stave off the infection without turning the person because it isn’t human blood). Then, in a following scene, she and Gavriel are having an intimate moment and she sucks the blood from his wrist while she allows him to bite and suck at her neck. In those moments, it seems like she wants to turn. It was very contradictory. And maybe I am missing the point – like maybe Black wanted everyone to understand how strong the infection is and the thirst to be a vampire is once infected, but I still think it was written like Tana just gave up on her strength and resolve which are two of her traits that make her so relatable and likable.
Other than those two reasons, this book was really good. Holly Black has written some other books that I like and I enjoy her writing so I am always eager to see what she has written next. I have another series coming up from her that I will be reading soon so I am hoping they are just as good! I am a sucker for a good series that can hold my attention for a few weeks. I would love if there was a sequel to The Coldest Girl in Coldtown but I am also totally fine with her choice of leaving it as a stand alone. Overall, it was well written and had a great storyline – 3/5.
Copyright 2024 Jessica Nash. All rights reserved.
