Mini-Reviews: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Title: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
Author: Lish McBride
Series: Necromancer, #1
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 4 / 5

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Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he's doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak.

Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

This mini-review will be on the short and sweet side, as I don’t have a whole lot to say about Hold Me Closer, Necromancer beyond saying I really enjoyed it. I was hooked right from the first few chapters, and I loved the blend of humour and snark throughout. I literally laughed out loud more than a few times while I was reading, and I love when I find a book that can maintain that level of humour throughout the entire story. The book never took itself too seriously, and it made the humour feel more genuine and appealing. Also, I really liked four of the main characters – Samhain (Sam), Frank, Ramon and Brooke. I loved the dynamic between the four of them, and I really wish the entire book was from just their perspectives. This leads me onto my one gripe, which was a bit too much POV switching. I prefer connecting with a few characters really well, rather than lots of different characters, but this didn’t impact that much on how I felt about the book overall. Oh, and for extra brownie points? I noticed those Soundgarden song lyrics! (Yeah, yeah, alright, easy to get on my good side, but... *shrugs* oh, well!) Overall, I really enjoyed Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, and I’d recommend it for anyone looking for an Urban Fantasy book that’s just pure fun to read.

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, bought
My rating: 4 / 5

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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.

-- As seen on Goodreads

My Thoughts

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was so much better than I had expected it to be. It takes a different approach to vampires, and with all the vampire books floating around these days, it was so refreshing to read a story that seemed quite unique in comparison to books I’ve read previously. Technically, this is the second book I’ve read by Holly Black: the first book I read was in collaboration with another author. I really enjoyed her writing style here, and I was wrapped up in the story really quickly. Plus, the world-building was awesome! I love the concept of Coldtowns, and it was really fascinating to see how they came to be and how their presence influences the rest of the world for both humans and vampires alike.

The characters were really good, and I liked Tana’s narration. Seeing the world unfold from her perspective was awesome, but if I’m honest, her personality didn’t jump off the pages as much as I would have hoped it would. Both Aidan and Gavriel were interesting characters, but Gavriel intrigued me a bit more. I liked that he was unpredictable, yet kind of sweet, in a completely insane sort of way. Actually, he reminded me a little of Myrnin from the Morganville Vampire series. Hey, not complaining! I really like Myrnin!

There was one little pit-fall, and that was the ending, or, more specifically, the final two chapters. While, yes, I did really like how things concluded overall, I’m a little iffy on a few things, and they’ve dimmed the overall great-book-euphoria. Namely, that was Tana’s final decision. To me, it just didn’t feel like it belonged in the context of the world that was built. I don’t think it was the right choice. Also, the ending is one I would have expected from the first book in a series, and I was under the impression that The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was a standalone? The ending, and it being a standalone, doesn’t really gel for me. Other than this, though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was entertaining throughout, had a great writing style with engaging and entertaining characters. I’d highly recommend giving it a go if you’re a bit tired of the usual same-old-same-old vampire books that seem to be everywhere these days.