E-reader Monday: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

"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."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

I am a sucker for anything supernatural and I am not ashamed of it. Honestly, I have never heard of Holly Black before and I stumbled upon this book while randomly browsing Goodreads one evening. The title was very eye catching and I thought to myself... Why not? I mean, I surely read a lot of really horrible vampire books so I could give this one a shot as well. 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown has a great beginning. It is packed with action from the very start and that detail pretty much got me interested. Once the reader starts to get familiar with the setting of the book, things get even more compelling. It has some elements of the True Blood series such as the fact that the vampires are out in the open and every citizen knows they exist. However, they are not roaming freely and they are currently residing in Coldtowns. 

The main character is a teenage girl named Tana and she seems like a strong female character. I did like her (and her style) in the 80% of the book. But there are a few minor details (that end up as a crucial plot moments) I did not understand at all. Her switch from a typical girl who is put in a dangerous situation and  she is doing the best she can, into a deadly vampire killer baffles me. I am not complaining too much but it seems somehow rushed and hasty.

Of course, there is a love interest. In this particular case - two of them. Aiden is Tana's ex-boyfriend-soon-to-be-a-vampire and Gavriel is an ancient vampire with a variety of mental problems. All three of them embark on an unpredictable and risky road trip to a Coldtown.

I did like this book because it is somewhat different but once again, the writing looked hurried and there are a couple of characters who should have had a bigger role in this story. Overall, it is not bad and if you are into this genre - go read it. It is a page turner and easy to read so you will not be stuck with it for a long time.

3/5

Review: Revival by Stephen King

"In a small New England town, in the early 60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs Jacobs; the women and girls - including Jamie's mother and beloved sister - feel the same about Reverend Jacobs. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.

Then tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, the preacher curses God, mocking all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. In his mid-thirties, he is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings. Because for every cure there is a price . . ."

Read the rest at Goodreads.

The truth is I have read this book in December but I've been lazy with my reviews and I've completely neglected my blog. But better late than never, so here it goes.

I will just say it right away - I loved Revival! It may be because I absolutely adore Stephen King and sometimes cannot make a right assessment when it comes to his work or maybe because the book is badass - plain and simple. When someone mentions Stephen King, most of the people automatically imagine the horrors of his well-known works, specific scenes from the many movie adaptations (such as Pennywise the Clown standing in a backyard, being his creepy self), and they expect the gruesome and terrifying book filled with blood and carnage.

I don't think Mr. King has ever written that kind of a story but he did earn the reputation of being the master of horror, liters of blood included or not.

Revival is an excellent book which explores personal tragedies and the way they can transform you into a whole new person. It is also a story of friendship, even though this point is a bit murky since the relationship described here is not the best-friends-forever kind. Without going too deep into the spoilers, it is good to add that the narration is done by a character named James Morton and we follow him throughout his childhood, formative years, and adulthood. We get to know him, his secrets, his fears, his addictions, and connecting with him is pretty easy. On the other hand, we have Charles Jacobs who is a good man turned into a mad scientist who pops up into James' life a couple of times, creating some watershed moment for the narrator of this story. 

All things considered, I highly recommend this book. It might not have the exceptional narration of Dolores Clairborne, and it might not terrify you like The Shining, but Stephen King still got it and this one has a potential of becoming a classic one day.

5/5