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: The Fever by Megan Abbott

"The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security."

Read the rest at Goodreads. 

First of all, I was wildly attracted to the cover of this book. It is amazing. But most of all, it goes so well with the title - The Fever. I read a little bit about the book online and it sparked my interest so of course, I picked it up.

It is a page turner since the very beginning because the whole story is very dynamic. The setting - small town by the contaminated lake which became a forbidden zone - is great. It adds more to the already eerie story about the unexplainable illness sweeping through a high school, mass hysteria and four friends caught in the very middle of everything.

But there are a few negative points I feel the need to address. I did not like the main character at all. Maybe Abbott decided not to develop her characters more, I am not sure. Deenie fell flat to me. The rest of the girls as well. Lise and Gabby are unmemorable. Skye had potential but then again - not really.

The ending disappointed me as well. Everything was going fine, the mystery, creepiness, strange lake,... And in the end, teenage jealousy was "the bad guy". I did understand the book deals with high school and a group of adolescents but I expected a gang of revengeful ghosts... at least.

All in all, the book is not perfect but it is not boring either. It is a quick read though so if you have a free afternoon, give it a go.

3/5