{Audiobook} Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Series: Stand Alone
Narrator: Christine Lakin
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publication Date: September 3rd, 2013
Source: Borrowed Audio from Library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

This book was not even on my radar for the longest time. I read a few works by Black a few years back. It was the Modern Faerie Tales Trilogy. They were good, but not a favorite of mine so pretty much everything else I've seen her come out with, I've pushed to the bottom of my tbr list. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown though, Jen recommended, and when she recommends a book, I always like it. Most of the time I love it. 

In this case, it was definitely love. And she actually recommended I try the audio, and that was the best thing I ever did, but I'll get to that. First off, I want to talk about how freaking awesome this Vampire tale is. I loved the original spin on the creatures. Once you are bitten, you aren't necessarily turned. You are infected... but you can sweat it out.. as long as you can stay away from human blood. Neat right! It made for a totally different dynamic I think. 

The opening, whoa. This story opens up hard and keeps running. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. And there is gore. Lots of it. I can appreciate that, especially where vampires are concerned. I love the sparkly ones too, but it's nice to read about a more traditional version of the monsters. I really liked the whole coldtown thing too. So cool. 

Tana has to be one of the strongest female characters I have ever read about. And Gavriel is one sexy bad ass vamp. There is one particular kissing scene in here that had me swooning like crazy. So well written, I kept rewinding the audio and listening to it over and over. (does that make me a perv?) lol. Ahh, well.. :) 

Now to talk about the Audio. I have gained a few favorite Audiobooks over this year but The Coldest Girl in Coldtown blew it's way into those tops. Holy cow, this audio is good. Christine Lakin was incredible and then to top off her awesome narrating came all of the spooky music. SPOOKY MUSIC!!!! I was creeped out as it was, and then a really scary scene would come up and then a back track of music would come on, and it completely set the mood.

There is no better time to listen to this audio than now, with Halloween on our door step. And if you aren't into Audio, I saw that the kindle and nook versions are $2.99 at the moment. At least they were when I scheduled this a few hours ago. :) So check it out! So worth the money. Now I feel like I have to read some more stuff by Holly Black. 

About the author:

Holly Black is a best-selling author of contemporary fantasy novels for kids, teens, and
adults. She is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and The Good Neighbors graphic novels (with Ted Naifeh) The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction, and The Curse Worker series (White Cat, Red Glove, and Black Heart). She is also the co-editor of three anthologies, Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with Justine Larbalestier), and Welcome to Bordertown (with Ellen Kushner). Her most recent works are the middle grade novel, Doll Bones, and the dark fantasy stand-alone, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.
She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

Find Holly:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Labels: Audiobook, hachette, holly black, reviews, the coldest girl in coldtown, vampires