When I first was recommended The Coldest Girl in Coldtown I was hesitant. Am I still tired of YA vampires? I don't know. The answer is apparently no. This was like the Sookie Stackhouse series mixed with the Buffy episode Lie to Me and a little Anita Blake sprinkled on top. There was probably more mixed in, but the point is this was gritty. And if the vampires are sexy and alluring, it makes them all the more dangerous. 
 Tana wakes up in a bathtub after a house party without memories of how she got there or what has happened. When she finally shuffles out, she finds all her friends massacred, except for her ex-boyfriend, Aidan. Aidan she finds chained to a bed where vampires have already fed from, and infected him. There is a vampire also chained in the room with him. When this vampire, Gavriel, ends up helping them, Tana helps him escape. What follows is their escape into Coldtown, a quarantined city in which vampires, those infected by vampire bites, vampire wannabes, and a few unlucky others are trapped together. While the world of Coldtown resembles a dystopia, it is presented to the world through the lens of lavish celebrities and endless parties. 
 Holly Black is a master of creating dark, gritty worlds. Without being overly verbose, Black describes very visual worlds that I am not only able to picture in my head while reading, but also forward an emotional state that plays into the plot of the book. In The Coldest Girl in Coldtown everything was imbued with a level of anxiety. 
 The characters who inhabit these worlds are interesting and complex. Two of the most interesting characters in the novel are a couple of twins our original trio meets in a rest stop and brings into Coldtown with them. These two want to be turn. They run a blog devoted to vampires, and are involved in various other online communities. They are full of bravado. They've adopted new names and can only be dressed in what I expect are the newest trends a la Hot Topic. They yearn for vampirism because they do not feel they fit in. All of this seems somewhat typical, if well crafted. And yet, they still managed to surprise me. I felt it when a character who we'd only been introduced to in passing reference became a vampire victim. And that's another of Black's strengths. There are victims here. There is a sense of urgency throughout the novel because she makes it very clear that this is not a world in which characters are safe. For crying out loud, the novel begins with a pile of dead bodies. 
 The plot here is fantastic. Tana has very clear goals throughout the novel, whether that be survival or saving a loved one. What she's doing has a point, and the relationships she builds on top of that help add color and complexity. The pacing moved along quickly, and nothing felt superficial to the story being told. Black maintained stakes throughout the novel. Along with a couple of moments of devastating irony. 
 This is a fun ride that keeps you on your toes, eager to explore this world with the characters that inhabit it, even if you can never be sure if they're trustworthy. 
 Review on Tea and Tomes