The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (review)

As a child, Tana watched her mother go Cold, i.e., turn into a bloodthirsty, flesh-crazed monster and succumb to the infection that turned much of the world’s population into vampires. A teenager now, Tana wakes up after a drunken night to the massacre of her fellow partygoers by vampires; fleeing with her infected ex-boyfriend and another mysterious boy, Tana is bitten herself. Refusing to put her family through more grief, Tana decides to go to Coldtown—a glamorous, quarantined city where vampires and their prey mingle in a seductive dance that is televised live to the rest of the world. Black has already revamped fairies (Valiant, BCCB 10/05) and sorcerers (White Cat, BCCB 9/10) with her innovative style, and she attacks the vampire genre with the same creativity and morbidity that characterize her earlier series. Coldtown is a twisted place, with humans acting with as much depravity and cruelty as the supposed monsters, while the vampires are of the Anne Rice variety, as elegantly dressed as they are vicious. Horrified but strangely attracted to their violence, Tana comes to realize that these monsters don’t seduce in spite of their cruelty but because of it; the humans that come to them willingly (and watch them on live streams) long for both the immortality they can offer and their ability to casually destroy. This is a solidly paced adventure studded with the occasional steamy encounter, so readers familiar with Black’s mix of emotional depth and outstanding world-building will not be disappointed.