Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Format: ARC
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.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.—via Goodreads
When it comes to vampires, there are two camps: people who like docile, emo vampires and people who like aggressive, awesome vampires.
But Holly Black* is, of course, the person who blurs the lines and makes them all one-in-the-same.
In The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Tana lives in present-day, but the world knows that vampires exist and that they live in Coldtowns, which are quarantined areas where vampires and, some humans, can live as they please. While this sounds weirdly utopian, it really isn’t. The Coldtowns are refuges, but area also prisons, and the world Black has imagined feels a little more Gothic than the way I perceive it to be, at least.
But Tana isn’t a girl who is obsessed with death or being a vampire, much like some others are. She’s experienced the pain and terror of vampirism first-hand, and though she accepts it for what it is, she wants nothing to do with it. But after a party, it turns out that she has little choice and becomes inexorably wrapped up in helping some vampires make their way to the nearest Coldtown.
Though this isn’t my favorite Holly Black book, I really loved what she did with this one. The story is told from several different points of view, which keeps the story, narrative, and perspective fresh. Though you spend a lot of time with Tana, you also get in the brains of some of the vampires, whose stories are nuanced and sumptuous. I feel like when in the perspective of vampires is where Black’s writing really excels—she does a wonderful job of capturing the sadness inherit in being a vampire well, but also highlights the sophistication and class of belle époque Paris through fashion and attitude. She evokes that fine line of lavish debauchery and debilitating despair in a way that I haven’t come across before in writing about vampires. And I’ve read a lot of it.
But more than a story of escaping to a Coldtown, Tana’s story is one of bravery and being true to herself. There are some romantical bits that crop up here, but they aren’t the focus, and to be honest, I was zero percent interested in that storyline, which is perhaps a first for me.
But, really, what you need to know is that I literally couldn’t put the book down. At page 268 I thought, “I’m going to bed now.” And then I’d be like, “Nah. I’ll just finish this.” And I did.
Overall, this is a beautifully written story that takes on vampires with a sophistication, style, and maturity that I feel has been missing in many vampire novels of late. It’s definitely worth a read and I’d be willing to wager that you’ll finish it in one go.
*Okay, she isn’t the first person to ever do this, but it hasn’t been done in awhile. There. Stop yelling at me.
I Went to a Mumford & Sons Concert. I Bought a T-Shirt.
I saw Mumford & Sons on Wednesday.
Yes, it was awesome.
Yes, they sounded great.
Yes, Marcus Mumford is perfect. He played the drums as he sang! (Like Hanson, but better!*) And he screwed up the lyrics once and said fuck a lot and he is just All of the Things.
Yes, I was kind of far from the stage and all of the photos are sort of vague (they’re all taken by The Boyfriend because his are WAY better than mine. Seriously, I’m the world’s worst photographer. All my photos are crooked and blurry.) but it was general admission seating and I couldn’t get out of work early, so that is where we ended up. I wasn’t unhappy about it.
Yes, we did get a very nice video of them singing Little Lion Man.
Yes, even the tickets to the event looked cool.
I actually took this picture! Instagram is magic.
Yes, I did buy the $35 T-shirt that matches the really awesome tickets. I’m pretty sure it’s the most expensive concert shirt I’ve ever bought.
Selfie! This sucker was hard to take. I spent a good 8 minutes trying to get the lighting and angle right so that you couldn’t see my sort-of-messy bedroom. APPRECIATE IT and its visible pixels.
Yes, it was a nearly perfect night. The only thing that would have made it better is if the asshole college guys next to me would have stopped yelling lyrics at the top of their lungs.
….I think admitting that officially makes me And Old.
*I’m not hating on Hanson. I like Hanson. I have them on my Feel Good Jams Spotify playlist. But. I’m not wrong in saying that Marcus Mumford > Zac Hanson.
Review: The Art Forger
Title: The Art Forger
Author: B.A. Shapiro
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Format: Library eBook
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Making a living reproducing famous artworks for a popular online retailer and desperate to improve her situation, Claire is lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when that very same long-missing Degas painting is delivered to Claire’s studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.
Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life.—via Goodreads
I am a sucker for heist books.
Also, for art history.
So when I heard about The Art Forger, a book about an art heist and a woman who is a Degas scholar and reproductionist, I was all kinds of on board.
Going into this, I definitely had expectations—this is a pulpy, heisty book that was sure to be full of mysterious intrigue and well-dressed, smart people and some sort of action scene.
What I wasn’t expecting was to be wrapped up in the minutiae of pigments, turpentine, and exactly what it takes to forge a masterpiece. Though that probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I found the tedium of the artists process fascinating. I wasn’t gifted with artistic ability (even my handwriting is terrible) and I’m truly amazed by people who can write legibly, let alone create, and forge, works of art. But I’m also a person who is a curious sort, and learning about process is something that I actually enjoy. So while some people would probably be thinking JUST GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, I was deeply enjoying the descriptions of paint mixing and explanations of stripping art, tempering and applying paint to a canvas, and then having to BAKE IT IN AN OVEN.
But, this book is much more than an instructional manual of how to forge a Degas. The main character, Claire, is an art world pariah due to a past mistake in both love and career, and she is looking to make a comeback. But, because of her pariah status, no one will give her the time of day. So she resorts to reproducing famous works of art for a website, teaching art to young men in juvey, and hoping that someday a curator or gallery owner will see more in her than just her black-balled name.
But while we’re learning about Claire’s past as it unfolds in bits and pieces, we’re also learning about late-nineteenth century Boston socialite and art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner, the woman who owned the famed Degas that was stolen and that Claire is now forging. Through fictionalized letters to her niece, the reader gets to know Gardner and finds out that there is much more to the infamous Degas than anyone, including Claire, knows.
But Claire is a smart cookie and though she has no access to the letters from Gardner, she knows something isn’t right with the Degas. And that’s where the story really takes off. Shapiro’s writing is sharp and the plotting of the story is calculated so that the reader is never quite sure exactly where the story, from either the past or present, will go next.
A mesmerizing story of art history, propriety, navigating the sometimes unforgiving art world, and redemption, The Art Forger is a book that pulled me in and that has stayed on my mind long after I finished it.
Review: Crown of Midnight
T
itle: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Format: eGalley
An assassin’s loyalties are always in doubt.
But her heart never wavers.
After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king’s contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.
Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king’s bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she’s given a task that could jeopardize everything she’s come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon — forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.
Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?—via Goodreads
Last year, my favorite book was Throne of Glass.
I love the hell out of that book.
Now we have Crown of Midnight.
And y’all.
Yes yes yes yes yes yes YES YES YES.
Where in Throne of Glass Celaena was tested physically, in Crown of Midnight she’s tested emotionally. She’s given an assignment that throws her into the seedy underbelly of Erilea, which, as it turns out, is full of well-dressed courtesans, to find out if there is a legitimate threat against the crown. As she tries to learn the truth of the situation, she suffers a staggering loss that changes her entire world.
And though the book was already fantastic, from there, shit gets real.
The journey you take with Celaena is gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, and a lesson in courage, faith, and sacrifice.
But not everything is sad-making. Chaol is still around, making me swoon all over the place. And, of course, Dorian is also there, making me want to curl up and read with him in his cozy tower room.
But, as in Throne of Glass, this book is about Celaena. And, not to be a horrible tease, but there is a twist in this book that will just….gah. GAH.
Since I refuse to spoil it, go and pre-order (it’ll be out tomorrow. Your wait is not long!) it so that you can download/pick it up on Tuesday. Then read it in one sitting and get thee to the social media and/or comments so we can fangirl all over it.
Okay?
Okay.
An Apology to Jimmy Buffett.
Good news!
Stop judging my chipped nail polish.
I found my rings! (I lost one in the abyss of my sister’s car awhile ago, so I’ve been making due with just two of them. I won’t blame Jimmy for the loss of one.)
They were in a pocket of my purse and not in or around the kind of swampy ladies room at the Nikon Theater at Jones Beach.!
…I’m ridiculous.
Bethany Larson 