The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
by Holly Black
Published September 3rd 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
419 pages

Summary: (from Goodreads.com)

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.

Review:
I thought it was interesting that the book started out with a "wow factor"; a girl is one of three people left alive at the party. The weird thing about this to me is, this book is about vampires. They can smell blood. They can hear heartbeats. Why would they just happen to skip a girl who fell asleep in a bathtub? Despite that one thing that irked me through the entire book, I thought it was pretty interesting as far as vampire fiction for teens goes. The main thing I liked about it was Tana was a strong lead female. I also liked that romance was NOT the main theme of the story, only a fragment of a side theme (and even then it wasn't really interesting). 

I pretty much felt blah about this whole book. The plot of the story was rather boring. It got good for maybe the last 5 chapters(?) and then it was just sort of up and down from that. I'd actually be more interested in a sequel if there was one since Ms. Black already has the characters and the setting already fleshed out so she could spend more time on a better story line and I would like to see how the character relationships turn out.

SCORE: 3/5

Maggot Moon

Maggot Moon
by Sally Gardner
Published February 12, 2013 by Candlewick

Summary:
(from goodreads.com)

What if the football hadn’t gone over the wall? On the other side of the wall there is a dark secret. And the devil. And the Moon Man. And the Motherland doesn’t want anyone to know. But Standish Treadwell — who has different-colored eyes, who can’t read, can’t write, Standish Treadwell isn’t bright — sees things differently than the rest of the "train-track thinkers." So when Standish and his only friend and neighbor, Hector, make their way to the other side of the wall, they see what the Motherland has been hiding. And it’s big...One hundred very short chapters, told in an utterly original first-person voice, propel readers through a narrative that is by turns gripping and darkly humorous, bleak and chilling, tender and transporting.

Review:

Maggot Moon is really written beautifully; sentences flow off of each other with ease and add to the continuous flow of the story. However, I felt like this book was very confusing! The summary states that it is set in a Regime, and using context clues, one concludes that it is a Russian one due to the use of the word "Motherland" in reference to the country. I've read in other reviews that it is a "what-if" novel, concluding what the world would be like if Germany had won WWII. Either way, the book is eerie: a post-apocolyptic-esque setting with a Big Brother type governement ruling with an iron fist. While I enjoy books that thrust you right into the story with little explanation, this book didn't make much sense to me until about the last 30 chapters. The ending was not what I was expecting, but to be honest, none of the book is really what I expected it to be. I think one of the best things this book has is small chapters. It would be great for a reluctant reader to feel accomplished and keep reading on.

2.5/5

The Deathday Letter

Deathday Letter

by Shaun Hutchinson

Published by Simon Pulse June 2010

256 pages

Summary (from Amazon): Oliver lives in a world where at some point in their lives, everyone receives a Deathday Letter, a letter that kindly lets you know you have twenty-four hours left to live. Abraham Lincoln received one, Heath Ledger received one, and on an otherwise typical Thursday morning, fifteen-year-old Oliver Travers receives one. Bummer.

With his best friend by his side, Ollie has one day left to live life to the fullest, go on every adventure possible…and set things right with the girl of his dreams.

Review:

Set in a world like our own where people receive letters letting them know when they are going to die, you think that this story would be a bit darker. The main character Oliver, is a riot. There were so many times I had to stop reading the book because I was laughing too hard. His wit and sense of humor keep the story fresh while he lives out his last day alive with his two friends.

While it is a story about a boy living his last day, there is also great character development. The Ollie we see at the beginning of the story is very different from the one at the end. He learns that even though he’s going to die, there are others that are going to have to deal with the grief left behind. He goes from being a very selfish boy to finally realizing that the world doesn’t revolve around him.

The only thing I found annoying was the constant “me-me-me” attitude of Ollie. At first it’s funny, but after a while it begins to grate on your nerves. Still, I loved this book and it was a fun read.

3.5/5