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Short Story Review : The Coldest Girl In Coldtown by Holly Black

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  • Length : 29 pages 
  • Publication Date : February 10th 2010

 Info: In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. Some of these stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and many have been reprinted in many Best of” anthologies.

Did you know Holly Black’s newest novel, Coldest Girl in Coldtown started off as a short story ? It was featured in a 2010 anthology called The Poison Eaters, Coldtown comes in at just under 30 pages.

While at the Beautiful Creatures book signing last month, Kami Garcia raved about Holly Black’s short story The Coldest Girl In Coldtown and how excited she was to find out that Black was writing the novel. I decided to pick it up at the library to  learn a little bit more about Coldtown.

Now, you know Black’s Curse Workers series is one of our favorite reads at Books and Sensibility and when another authors recs something,  wehave to check it out.

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : The Truth About Forever

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A long hot summer. That’s what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy’s father.
But sometimes unexpected things can happen. . . As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry

Macy Queen’s boyfriend  is the smart and driven Jason Talbot. Macy Queen’s sister had the most beautiful wedding at the Lakeview Inn. Macy Queen’s mother is the businesswoman behind the Wildflower Ridge subdivision.

But what Macy Queen is most know for is watching her father die.

There on the sidewalk as Macy’s father slips away so does life as she knew it . Now nothing but perfection, studying and order will do for her and her now smaller family. This summer is shaping up to be just that; until the chaos that is Wish Catering barrels into her life. Crab cakes, meatballs, a game of Truth and all.

Wish Catering is–in one word–  chaos. Run by the frazzled and very pregnant owner Delia; along with boy-crazy Kristy, monotone Monica, Bert and the mysteriously artistic Wes.

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : This Lullaby

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“Everything, in the end, comes down to timing. One second, one minute, one hour, could make all the difference. So much hanging on just these things, tiny increments that together build a life. Like words build a story, and what had Ted said? One word can change the entire world.”

― Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby

  • Release Date: March 27th 2002
  • Page Number: 345
  • Genre: Contemporary
  • Publisher: Speak

Synopsis: When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn’t mess around. After all, she’s learned all there is to know from her mother, who’s currently working on husband number five. But there’s something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy’s rules. He certainly doesn’t seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can’t seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy’s starting to understand what those love songs are all about?

Remy Starr is  better, she swears. 

She doesn’t sleep around anymore, she doesn’t smoke nearly as much and , most importantly  her eyes are set on Stanford in the fall. The only thing standing in her way ?  The summer. This will be the summer the girl who thinks she knows everything gets a lesson in love, the Potato Opus and what one summer can do.

Unlike Dessen’s previous novels Remy is not a “good girl”. Remy is not a quiet introspective character. She isn’t best friends with the  screwed-up rebellious girl, she IS that girl. 

The love interest Dexter, provides a nice foil to the extremely “Type A” Remy. He is the spastic, hyper lead singer in the band, Truth Squad. When this group of essentially “lost boys” rolls into town with nothing but a white van and Dexter’s dog, Monkey, things on Remy’s side of town is never the same.
After reading Dessen’s novels in publication order, I think This Lullaby  is a turning point in Dessen’s novels. It combines the friendships, eccentric parents and quirky characters of her first three novels, with the summer time setting of Keeping The Moon. It also plays up romance and love much more than her previous novels…

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Summer of Sarah Dessen : Keeping The Moon

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“You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.” 

― Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon

  • Release Date : September 1999
  • Publisher : Viking/Penguin
  • Genre : Contemporary
  • Pages : 240
  • School Library Edition : 228

Synopsis: Colie expects the worst when she’s sent to spend the summer with her eccentric aunt Mira while her mother, queen of the television infomercial, tours Europe. Always an outcast — first for being fat and then for being “easy” — Colie has no friends at home and doesn’t expect to find any in Colby, North Carolina. But then she lands a job at the Last Chance Cafe and meets fellow waitresses Morgan and Isabel, best friends with a loving yet volatile relationship. Wacky yet wise, Morgan and Isabel help Colie see herself in a new way and realize the potential that has been there all along.

Keeping The Moon is a short read that manages to hold its own and pull a at the heart strings. This was the first Sarah Dessen novel  I’d ever read almost ten years ago *cringe* when I was 14-years-old. I remember that as soon as I finished it I sat there for a minute and then started to read it again.

Now 45 pounds lighter, Colie Sparks is no longer the “fat” girl in school.While she could easily shed the pounds, losing her low self-esteem and self consciousnesses is going to take a summer of change.

With bullying a hot topic nowadays this novel is still relevant today. Fifteen year old Colie Sparks has been lled fat, she has been made fun of  and is even called a slut. She is so down in her self that she begins to expect these things even whens she spends the summer in a town where no one knows her.

In the beach town of Colby, NC Colie befriends  a pair of  20 something best friends; Morgan who is a sweet optimist and Isabel, the straight forward brash beauty.As we are introduced to the town of Colby and its residents you really get the feel that you are meeting and getting to know these people for the first time

I did find this novel off plotting wise. It seems as if two plots; the friendship between Colie’s and her aunt’s young border, Norman, and her friendships with Isabel and Morgan could have been worked together. Instead it felt like they were separated into different sections, as if they weren’t apart of the same story.

This isn’t your average light summer at the beach novel. This novel begins real turn in Dessen’s writing. Plot and message began to flow more evenly in her writing after this. This is one of Dessen’s first books about summer and I think she really finds her place there.

Connections

I didn’t pick up any connections to her previous three novels.

 

What is the Summer of Sarah Dessen ?

Book Review : Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout

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“You know what they say about boys next door…” 

– Jennifer L. Armentrout, Obsidian

Yeah, new covers ! !!

So, I kind of have a weird relationship with this book. When I first started book blogging this was one of the first books I saw on a book blog. I thought the original cover was kind of off and one of my our first posts involved seriously critiquing it.

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Kat Reads Manga : Vampire Knight Vol. 1

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“Vampires they are beasts in human form who drink the blood from living humans. Vampires do exist. You just don’t realize they’re there.”

 – Matsuri Hino, Vampire Knight Vol.1 1

 

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