asparagusisreading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the Fiercereads team for this e-arc to read and review.
Cold by Mariko Tamaki is a young adult mystery following the perspectives of Todd Mayer, the ghost of a teen that was recently found dead, and Georgia, another teen that has decided to start her own investigation and find out what happened to Todd. Along the way, there are more connections between Georgia and Todd than she realized. That premise is intriguing and was what really drew me into the story however, the execution of it did not keep me interested. For starters, I did not understand what Georgia’s motivations were to investigate. She really had no connections to Todd (that we knew of.) Then when the investigation started, she really wasn’t investigating. She was living her life like normal, picking up on some suspicious behaviors, and the mystery was told to you. The last 20% went really quickly where all of the remaining information was thrown at the reader, again told not solved. It felt like more of the investigation was done on Todd’s end who really wasn’t looking, it was like he just happened to overhear conversations and remember the last few days before his death. I don’t think the shorter length of this book worked in its favor. If there were another 50-100 pages, it would have helped the pacing of the story and allowed for more character development.
The title of this book is Cold. I think this word, this title, works really well for the book for multiple reasons. For starters, the book takes place in the winter the main character that is found dead is cold. As you know, dead bodies are cold to the touch as cold as ice. if I remember correctly, he froze to death or parts of him was frozen after his death. Some chapters are told in his perspective, and they do feel a bit cold as you would assume and feel reading from a ghost perspective. The story itself feels a bit cold, in terms of feeling detached and disconnected from the characters while reading. Even though I wanted Georgia to continue the investigation and find out the truth, I wasn’t necessarily rooting for her or holding my breath in fear, suspense, or concern for what could happen next. Despite the story and murder investigation being centered around Todd, I felt like I didn’t learn many details about him. It was like watching a documentary about his murder where I may feel sympathy, anger, etc about the case but no real connection to him. There could have been some commentary on how this boy died and no one is effected or seems to care, how cold and cruel people were to him before and after his passing but that didn’t really happen.
There was a sex scene between two characters that lost me. Not only did it feel out of the blue but it felt wrong. Both characters and been drinking, one talked about how drunk she is, one cried, and neither really seemed happy to have been intimate.
Some of this I noticed has been mentioned in other reviews and I feel conflicted about it. This could have been intentional writing on the author’s part and if so, it was good I would give it a higher rating. But if it wasn’t, instead being a book where it fell flat for me and I lost interest since I like more of character/emotional driven story, then I’d rate this lower. Overall, Cold had an intriguing premise but I felt it was lacking in some aspects, 3 stars.
There was a sex scene between two characters that lost me. Not only did it feel out of the blue but it felt wrong. Both characters and been drinking, one talked about how drunk she is, one cried, and neither really seemed happy to have been intimate.
Some of this I noticed has been mentioned in other reviews and I feel conflicted about it. This could have been intentional writing on the author’s part and if so, it was good I would give it a higher rating. But if it wasn’t, instead being a book where it fell flat for me and I lost interest since I like more of character/emotional driven story, then I’d rate this lower. Overall, Cold had an intriguing premise but I felt it was lacking in some aspects, 3 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Homophobia
libraryanned's review against another edition
3.5
There were aspects of this book I really liked and some that needed to be more fleshed out. I understand Todd is supposed to be a ghost so he didn't have much of a personality or strong feelings anymore, but as a result, I didn't really feel for him all that much. He just seemed rather bland. I actually think it would have made a better graphic novel because even though it was a novel, it still somehow felt like a graphic novel. But, I did still enjoy it as an audiobook.
tiggerrd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
annecath's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
emanck15's review against another edition
4.0
Quick YA mystery with a diverse cast of characters. It wasn't the most suspenseful ending, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting (though I had a good feeling who was involved).
kseniyatai's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
alistairlowe's review against another edition
4.0
So this is quite a short but also fairly emotional novel.
I’m not really a fan of comparing books to each other but it reminded me a lot of Patrick Ness’s Release. Two stories told simultaneously, one from the living, one from the dead. When I read the synopsis I suppose I ended up expecting something a bit different. The story on one hand is about Todd a teenage boy who got murdered and is now witnessing aftermath of his death while not being able to have any impact on the real world anymore. On the other hand we have Georgia, a teenage girl with her own set of issues. The thing is Georgia is not really all that interested in Todd’s death or even trying to find out what happened to him as the synopsis may point out. Todd’s story is told on it’s own, through what he sees as a spirit that no longer thinks or feels. He just remembers and watches as the investigation of his death progresses. We learn about him through a set of flashbacks coming from his memories. The synopsis made it seem like he and Georgia have a lot in common and like because of those connections she will get involved and try to find out what happened but that is not really the case. She didn’t know he was queer or a loner. She does remember seeing him before but that doesn’t really lead anywhere till the truth is basically kinda handled to her.
Now that I mentioned that let me focus on what I did like because overall even if it ended up being different from my expectations I really did enjoy this story. I did like both characters for what they were. Because the book is short we obviously don’t learn too much about anyone, not even Todd or Georgia but we learn enough to feel for them. The whole resolution to Todd’s story and finding out what happened honestly made me a lot sadder than I expected. I don’t know, there was just something particularly tragic about how everything played out both before and after. Once Georgia gets more involved things get a lot more interesting. Overall I love the tone that the book sets. It’s chilling and it made it a nice February read.
Review also posted on my blog.
I’m not really a fan of comparing books to each other but it reminded me a lot of Patrick Ness’s Release. Two stories told simultaneously, one from the living, one from the dead. When I read the synopsis I suppose I ended up expecting something a bit different. The story on one hand is about Todd a teenage boy who got murdered and is now witnessing aftermath of his death while not being able to have any impact on the real world anymore. On the other hand we have Georgia, a teenage girl with her own set of issues. The thing is Georgia is not really all that interested in Todd’s death or even trying to find out what happened to him as the synopsis may point out. Todd’s story is told on it’s own, through what he sees as a spirit that no longer thinks or feels. He just remembers and watches as the investigation of his death progresses. We learn about him through a set of flashbacks coming from his memories. The synopsis made it seem like he and Georgia have a lot in common and like because of those connections she will get involved and try to find out what happened but that is not really the case. She didn’t know he was queer or a loner. She does remember seeing him before but that doesn’t really lead anywhere till the truth is basically kinda handled to her.
Now that I mentioned that let me focus on what I did like because overall even if it ended up being different from my expectations I really did enjoy this story. I did like both characters for what they were. Because the book is short we obviously don’t learn too much about anyone, not even Todd or Georgia but we learn enough to feel for them. The whole resolution to Todd’s story and finding out what happened honestly made me a lot sadder than I expected. I don’t know, there was just something particularly tragic about how everything played out both before and after. Once Georgia gets more involved things get a lot more interesting. Overall I love the tone that the book sets. It’s chilling and it made it a nice February read.
Review also posted on my blog.
cheli412's review against another edition
1.0
You know - I am giving this a one star but it hurts for me to do that. Every person I have ranted to about this book always is confused because my explanations always have them hooked but I realized what I hate.
The story is good. I was down for that. What makes me mad is that "deep and meaningful" ending. Why did a teenager have such a big revelation and speak as if she was some sort of God?
I think the fact that this character legit died and was forgotten should have been impactful to everyone. Not just our MC. It should have hit that HEY "we are all assholes aren't we?"
Hated the brother so much. What a piece of trash man.
I would def rec this book solely because I was a fan of the journey to the end - not the execution
The story is good. I was down for that. What makes me mad is that "deep and meaningful" ending. Why did a teenager have such a big revelation and speak as if she was some sort of God?
I think the fact that this character legit died and was forgotten should have been impactful to everyone. Not just our MC. It should have hit that HEY "we are all assholes aren't we?"
Hated the brother so much. What a piece of trash man.
I would def rec this book solely because I was a fan of the journey to the end - not the execution
rothcoe's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
torifaye's review against another edition
4.0
Hot dang that ending was perfection! I can see teens becoming obsessed with this!