Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Update + Cold Kiss Review

Alright guys, I am officially working on my 5 book goal :D I just finished Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey (I'll post a review right after this), and next I'm getting started on Partials by Dan Wells. It's so awesome to be getting through my never-ending stack of library books!

Review time!

Cold Kiss

Amy Garvey

Pages: 282

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

Age Group: Young Adult

Date Published: September 20, 2011

It was a beautiful, warm summer day, the day Danny died.
But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy Wren fell in love with. His touch is icy; his skin, smooth and stiff as marble; his chest, cruelly silent when Wren rests her head against it.
Wren must keep Danny a secret, hiding him away, visiting him at night, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school, and Wren realizes that somehow, inexplicably, he can sense the powers that lie within her--and that he knows what she has done. And now Gabriel wants to help make things right.
But Wren alone has to undo what she has wrought--even if it means breaking her heart all over again. Suddenly Wren was alone and shattered. In a heartbroken fury, armed with dark incantations and a secret power, Wren decides that what she wants--what she "must" do--is to bring Danny back.

I'd originally picked this book up because I saw the cover reveal for the second one (or something like that) on Twitter, and thought it was gorgeous. I don't think I even read the synopsis. I just kinda got it, and read it. I'm certainly glad I did, though! I struggle to finish OK books, and this was a good one to pick up for the read-a-thon, since it was very interesting and fast-paced. I never wanted to put it down! (Seriously, I read while I ate lunch)

So, this book starts off with a quick run-through of Wren and Danny's relationship (How they met, how much they were in love, stuff like that). Then it cuts into Wren with Danny, but this Danny isn't the same one she fell in love with, and then she explains that this Danny was dead and she managed to bring him back. As the book goes on, we learn that she has alienated her friends and family and she was just generally wigged-out. And then she meets the new kid (isn't that the way it always goes?) and he manages to help her- a lot.

I had expected this to be a book more about her supernatural abilities, but it was a lot sweeter. It was really the story of a girl, who just happens to have magic in her family, who is struggling to deal with the loss of the boy she loved. She couldn't handle being without him- so she found a way so that she didn't have to. I mean, she's 17, what do you expect? I've never been in love, but it certainly seems like Danny was a guy worth hanging on to, and she really, really wanted to hang on. I loved the way the plot wound out and you got to see that Wren was just a normal girl, grieving over her dead boyfriend, who just wasn't quite gone. It was sweet. I also loved the way the author created these general moods throughout the book. When it was sad, I pictured everything tinged blue, but when she talked about her past with Danny everything felt so happy and golden. The only thing that bugged me is how quickly she got to know the new kid, Gabriel. Other than that, the plot was good, and interesting.

I genuinely liked Wren. She made me think of somebody who I would follow on Twitter- I'd care about what she had to say, because she's incredibly funny, but she's too cool for us to actually be friends. (I'm not good with people) She loved Danny so, so much, and did everything she could to preserve that. Was it enough? Well, you gotta read the book to know that one, kiddos. I also really liked her friends. Jess was angry, a lot, because she missed Wren so much and didn't know how to handle it. And Darcia was just generally really sweet. She made me think of Dee in Obsidian. And then there was Gabriel. He was a little overbearing, but I liked the guy. He was very crushworthy, and I know I would date him, if I were Wren. He was just the right kind of protective that is so rare in actual teenage guys (they could care less). Yeah, and he was pretty cute, too.

I already said I thought the cover was gorgeous. I really loved the theme it created for the book. It was icy and sad, because that's how Wren felt most of the time, and it worked.

I'll give it 4 stars, since there were a couple things I didn't like, but it was a good read overall.