Cold Kiss (Cold Kiss #1)

I haven’t read many paranormal novels this year, I think maybe two or three. I’ve spent this year reading contemps and dystopians but I picked up Cold Kiss after reading the synopsis and thought I’d give it a try. I was glad to see that I was able to get past the first fifty pages which didn’t happened when I tried reading paranormals just last month. My heart just hasn’t been in a mood for them lately. But Cold Kiss won me over from the beginning, I think it was because it wasn’t just focused on the paranormal aspect of the story, the magic that Wren can do but mostly on her grieving and what one will desperately do to not let go of those we love.

I liked that the novel was focused on Wren’s struggle to deal with the death of her boyfriend, with the way her feelings change after she brings him back and how she realizes how selfish she was and the damage she had done. Also loved that there’s a lot of focus on her relationship with her mother and the secrets she’s keeping from her, the anger she feels towards her for not teaching her about their powers and what really happened to her father. It makes the reader curious to continue reading, it has way more than just the undead boyfriend in it which makes the story feel a bit more like a contemporary novel with a dash of paranormal in it. I think that’s why I was able to get into this one, because it was full of angst and teenage rebellion too.

Towards the end though, I became angry with Wren. I was irritated with the way she began to treat Gabriel, who’s the best guy ever and all he’s been wanting to do was help her. She was a bit annoying during that last third of the novel, she was ungrateful and childish, I know she’s a teen but after all he had done for her, he didn’t deserve to be treated so crappy. I was glad to see that the ending leaves you with a bit of closure and even though this is a series it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger. Thanks goodness for that! It does leave some things unresolved which I hope will take main focus on the sequel. I’m looking forward to see what happens next and hopefully see Wren grow a little bit more.

I definitely expected to hate this book. Perhaps that's not something I should admit, but that's how it was. Partly, it's the cover. It's pretty on one level, but it just really creeps me out. Plus, there's the quote on the cover by Lauren Kate, whose books I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate as well, from what I've heard in the blogosphere. I believe I'd also read some less than flattering reviews of Cold Kiss. Well, this is one of the rare situations in which I am okay with being wrong.

While I am not completely in love with Cold Kiss, I definitely enjoyed it and I really appreciated how different the messages about love and romance are from so many of the most popular YA novels. As you can see in my favorite quote down at the bottom, this book is all about the misconceptions and fairy tale perfect romances not being as portrayed by pop culture.

The focus of this book is not on love overcoming death. That's what I thought it would be. I loved that she really considered the dark consequences of Wren's actions. I expected this to be a romance, but it's really not. That made a refreshing change.

I'm not sure how I feel about Gabriel. On the one hand, I would have preferred for Wren not to have a romantic interest in someone besides Danny - not forever, but while she's dealing with this. Still, I can kind of see why Garvey included him, and that he might be a necessary impetus. Wren certainly wasn't happy with her relationship with Danny before Gabriel entered the scene, but Gabriel serves to remind her of all that she's missing: a warm guy who she can be seen in public with. Gabriel can be a partner; Danny is nothing but deadweight. Still, Gabriel is too attached and to protective for someone who just met her.

The paranormal aspects are interesting, but not perhaps as well-defined as I would have liked. It seems a bit as though Gabriel's abilities were thrown in as a plot point to force Wren to open up to him, rather than being something natural. Other than that, I just don't know why he had them.

Another plus was the theme of family, and of how Wren's family dealt with the magical powers. This aspect, as well as the whole what-will-we-do-with-this-undead-dead-guy part, reminded me a lot of Practical Magic. Wren's mom does not want to teach her daughters how to use their power, which is what lets Wren get so out of control. She's made up her own rules and boundaries.

Cold Kiss is deeper and more thoughtful than I anticipated, making it a nice counterpoint to all of the paranormal, instalove romances out there. I will definitely be giving book two, Glass Heart, a try. I'm definitely curious to see what will happen next, and hope that Garvey will continue to deviate from the standard YA romance tropes.