The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (audio)

Tana wakes up at a sundown party to find all her friends murdered by vampires. Still she manages to escape, rescuing her infected ex-boyfriend, Aiden, and a mysterious vampire boy who was chained in the room with him. From there they travel to Coldtown where all the infected and vampires are sent in the hopes of curing Aiden and saving them all.

If  you are looking for a book with real vampires, then look no further. This is a book with blood and murder and vampires and sadness. Tana has lived what is a pretty sad, reckless life after her mother was infected. So she has this tough girl persona. But all that is tested when her ex-boyfriend is infected and she thinks she might be too. She runs to Coldtown hoping to fight off the infection and go home normal even though she knows the duplicitous nature of the wannabes and the vampires that live there.

I loved this book. I thought it was so great and I don't know how so much talent lives in one person. Black did a great job of making the vampires scary and the situation tense and violent. It was so well done. I really felt for Tana as she navigated this minefield and deals not only with the idea of being infected but with Gavriel, the vampire she rescued from the party. He is definitely an interesting character and it was nice to get his backstory without it overwhelming the book. The flashbacks done on the characters were a nice touch and nothing was given that wasn't necessary to the story. I liked it all.

Christine Lakin is the narrator and I liked her as the voice of Tana. She does fine with the different characters and I liked her reading. The musical cues in the book are really fun and add a little something to the book.

12 hours