The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - by Holly Black

My rating: 

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.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black. (Goodreads)

I love vampire books and admittedly my expectations aren't that high, but I really do think Holly Black wrote a great and fairly original vampire story here. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown takes place in the modern day in a world where vampirism has become an epidemic and so the infected are quarantined in Coldtowns. The vampires themselves aren't quite as groundbreaking, but I'm totally happy with classic vampires and I appreciate that Black pays homage to previous vampire stories in this book. I think what really sells this novel, though, is the great writing and the characters.

I've heard plenty of complaints about the characters in this book, but I loved them. Tana, our protagonist, is very well written as a normal, teenage girl. Sure, it's frustrating when she mak es stupid decisions but at the same time these decisions seem very believable for a hungover teenager who has just woken up surrounded by dead bodies. Her ex, Aiden, is even more stupid and admittedly obnoxious but again he comes across as a realistic teenage guy. We also have a brother / sister duo of goth Youtubers who are going to document their trip to Coldtown to become vampires. Again, horribly annoying but so well written. The only main character that didn't come across as extremely believable was Gavriel, Tana's vampire love interest. On the other hand, there's totally an Anne Rice-ish Louis/Lestat vibe around him so I was willing to ignore any shortcomings.

The characters fit really well into the plot Black sets up and I think the novel moves along at a great pace without sacrificing any character backstories or development. Holly Black is a great writer and I really love her take on the classic vampire novel. I would definitely recommend this book to vampire fans!

Sorteo Internacional El príncipe Lestat

For any Spanish-speaking readers, be sure to check out this contest to win a copy of Anne Rice's newest book (in Spanish of course)!

Particpo en el sorteo internacional del Prícipe Lestat por Anne Rice, gracias a Nanny Books. Como puedes ver en mi blog, leí El Príncipe Lestat hace poco, pero de la biblioteca y me gustaría mucho tener copia propia.

Prince Lestat - by Anne Rice

My rating:

As a disclaimer to this review I love the first books of the Vampire Chronicles, in particular the first five, so I was eager to revisit these character's in Anne Rice's new book.

In Prince Lestat, the vampire world has grown enormously but is also more connected than ever thanks to new technologies. Benji Mahmoud is broadcasting his radio show to vampires across the globe, urging them to band together as one united tribe. He believes this is more important than ever as the vampires seek to combat an enemy initially known only as the Voice. This Voice is urging vampires, especially elders, to destroy each other. Of course, who does every turn to for leadership? Lestat. Who has until this point been (very characteristically) sulking in a self-imposed exile.

Anne Rice brings back all our favorite vampires, giving most of the big players their own POV chapters. The alternation between points of view gives us a nonlinear narration of not only the current crisis but the backstories of what these characters have been up to since they last appeared in the Vampire Chronicles. At different points throughout the novel, the elders begin to realize that the Voice is in fact Amel - the spirit that possessed Akasha and became the Sacred Core keeping vampires alive.

Once this is established, Anne Rice paints a beautiful, luscious picture of stylish vampires not doing a whole lot to solve their problems. Don't get me wrong, I loved the descriptions of lavish clothing and long conversations about everything that has happened to them. I still would have liked a bit more action in terms of plot. Of course Lestat is known for taking his time to mope a bit before acting, but in this book all the vampires follow this pattern. I'm also not really sure about why Rose and Viktor, the two humans in the novel, are there. Viktor is interesting, scientifically, but doesn't do much other than inspire everyone with how perfect he is. Rose isn't even that interesting since she is portrayed as this extremely delicate and fragile young girl then woman who constantly needs to be saved.

Even with those complaints, I would still recommend this book so don't let me dissuade you if you are considering it. Despite the lack of action, the characters were just as great as I remembered. I felt like Anne Rice really brought back the essence of these vampires from her earlier novels. Prince Lestat fits in nicely with the initial Vampire Chronicles before Anne Rice branched off into witches and whatever else happened in the books that I could never bring myself to finish. This novel makes me want to read the first five books again then skip right to Prince Lestat and pretend that everything in between doesn't exist.

This is my second book for the summer reading challenge at summerreadingonline.blogspot.com and is going to take care of the NYT Bestseller challenge.