Cold Kiss Review & ARC Give Away

Author Amy Gavey, The Bookstall, and I have teamed up to bring you Cold Kiss week, which will feature a two part interview, and is being kicked off with an ARC contest! Details on how to win are at the end of the review, more ways than usual ;).

"Wren has spent four months keeping Danny hidden, while her life slowly unravels around her. Then Gabriel DeMarnes transfers to her school and somehow, inexplicably, he can sense her secret. Wren finds herself drawn to Gabriel, who is so much more alive than the ghost of the boy she loved. But Wren can’t turn her back on Danny or the choice she made for him—and she realizes she must find a way to make things right, even if it means breaking her own heart. " (goodreads synop)

This book was brilliantly executed and just beautiful. Wren, the main character, has powerful magic that runs in her family, but her mother wants to deny it. She's never been taught how to handle it or what the limits are since her mother pretends it doesn't exist.  I think Wren is an awesome protagonist. She's strong but not damaged like Katniss. Though she is damaged in her own ways.

Because she has power she's never been taught what to do with, in heartbroken desperation she does something horrible and incredibly stupid. She brings her dead boyfriend back to life, but he comes back rather lifeless. She tries to be everything he could possibly need, and she can't. It becomes obvious she's going to have to do something about her zombie boyfriend. But she doesn't want to. She loves him.

To make matters more complicated the hot new boy at school is determined to help her with her zombie problems, because he "likes" her. Something else she's not ready for. But she maneuvers pretty gracefully through it all, in a story about love, loss, and letting go.  And she learns a lot along the way.

When I first started reading this story, I thought the author should have done more relationship building between Wren and zombie boy to make me care about him. But it's woven through out, which was a good move.  Because by the end of the story your emotions are as twisted as Wren's. You want her to have Danny back, but you know Gabriel is a good guy for her too. You know what has to happen has to happen and yet you don't want it to. And more up front relationship building would have made me hate Wren for talking to Gabriel. The way the author handles it is brilliant.

But the lesson that you can't hold onto someone you love just because you love them is the best part of the book. Most of us have lost someone, in one way or another, that we weren't ready to part with.

Now how to win Cold Kiss which you can't buy until September.

You don't have to follow me to win, but it will get you 2 extra entries. You will get 3 entries for fb, twitter, blogging, google buzzing, google plussing, the contest, you will get 3 entries for liking The Bookstall's fb page which you can find here and 2 entries if you just leave a comment saying Beth sent you. So there are lots of ways to rack up points. This contest is open internationally and it will be open until midnight Saturday 30 CST.

This is an amazing book so good luck!!!!

UPDATE: This ARC contest just got sweeter. My autographed stock just came in and since the B&N incident rendered last week's contest impossible the ARC winner will now receive an autographed copy of Maggie Stiefvater's Forever too.