2015 Media #6 / Book #3: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, by Holly Black
Reason for reading: This was the January pick for my bookclub.
Summary: In this near-future book, vampires have emerged into the public eye due to an outbreak started by a sloppy newly-made vampire who left his victims living instead of completely draining them. Vampires, and the Cold (people infected with the vampirism disease, but who haven't yet tasted the blood of humans and so haven't turned) are forced to live in ghettos called Coldtowns. In this setting, the story starts out with Tana waking up to a vampire-related disaster, which begins both a physical journey away from the disaster and a spiritual journey of self-discovery.
What I thought: This book was fast-paced and difficult to put down. It asked some interesting philosophical questions. Do we all have monsters within us? Do we crave immortality and beauty at the price of humanity? If not, why are so many people attracted to paranormal romances? Is it because we want the ultimate bad-boy? Or, in the opposite line of questioning, why do so many people seek good in what seems evil?T
I find that these books like this are best when they do tackle philosophical issues. I think that so called genre books such as science fiction and horror are are particularly good at doing this.
ReplyDeleteI skipped re-reading my book club's selection of Dracula for this month because it was too creepy. This one sounds even scarier to me!
ReplyDelete