Title: Cold Kiss
Author: Amy Garvey
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 336

Summary:

“It seemed so right. Danny was mine, I was his, and that wasn’t going to work if he was dead. So I would make him not dead, not anymore. I didn’t think any further than what it would feel like to kiss him again, to wrap my arms around him and bury my head against his shoulder.

That was my first mistake. It also turned out to be the biggest.”

When her boyfriend, Danny, is killed in a car accident, Wren can’t imagine living without him. Wild with grief, she uses the untamed powers she’s inherited to bring him back. But the Danny who returns is just a shell of the boy she once loved.

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.

Amy Garvey’s transcendent teen debut is perfect for fans of Shiver and Beautiful Creatures. Wren’s unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.

Who doesn’t remember the all-consuming feeling of first love? I know I do. And I also know that there was a time when I might have done anything to keep it – or more specifically, him.

If only I had that kind of power, right?

I didn’t, for which I’m glad…but Wren does.

Unfortunately, she learns (the hard way) that wanting something doesn’t always make it right. That even if you have the ability to make things happen, it doesn’t mean you should.

After the death of her boyfriend, Danny, Wren does something that shouldn’t be possible. She brings him back to life.

Danny’s charm got under your skin the way a good song got stuck in your head, and after a while you couldn’t help humming it.

His reanimated self isn’t the same, though…and as time passes, she begins to realize that she’s not the same person either.

In the midst of her mistake, a new boy comes in to town. Gabriel’s tall and blond, all grey eyed and intriguing. He sees her and helps her to finally see that as much as she’s tried so desperately to hold on to the boy she loved, letting him go is the only answer.

“I saw you, Wren,” Gabriel says, and his voice is so soft, a feather drifting on the air, that I close my eyes to listen. “I saw this girl with these dark eyes and this crazy hair and this fuck you look on her face, and I wanted to talk to you.”

Gabriel helps her see that she deserves to be happy…and that Danny deserves to be at peace.

I love that this was a standalone book; that it had a beginning, middle and end. But, I’m not even gonna lie, it depressed the hell out of me. It started off a bit confusing, but when I figured out what was going on, I blew through most of it in one night. I couldn’t put it down. It made my heart hurt and my eyes burn with tears, but it also made me smile to see Wren learn lessons that most of us have experienced.

Garvey has an amazing way with words and descriptions, and she’s definitely earned a loyal reader in me.

Cold Kiss is unlike any story I’ve ever read. The summary of it doesn’t really do it justice–Wren is a witch (for lack of a better word) and when her boyfriend dies in a terrible accident, she does the unthinkable and brings him back. The consequences of that act aren’t something that she considered, and now she has her boyfriend back, but he’s just the shell of the boy she knew. And he’s starting to ask questions.

I’ve never been into zombie stories, so I really have no frame of reference to go by. I liked this story. I thought it was well-written and the feelings that Wren had were authentic–all of them. There was a squick factor for me, but at the same time, it was sweet and I got it.

I tilt my head up, my mouth brushing his lightly, and he pulls me closer. “Missed you,” he murmurs, lips against my cheek after a second. “Always miss you.”

When he finally kisses me, really kisses me, his lips are cool and dry and his arms are tight around me, fingers of one hand tangled in my hair. He tastes like smoke and ashes, the bitter weithg of wet earth, but I kiss him back, my palm resting on his cheek.

“Always want you.” The words are breathed against my mouth, and I relax into the circle of his arms as he pulls me closer. He’ll stop when I tell him to–he’ll do anything I tell him to now…

Even though he’s undead, I love how affectionate he is with her. The memories that she shares with him are so sweet and give insight to both of their characters before the accident. I felt like I knew them, and that’s one of my favorite aspects of this book.

Something else that I really enjoyed is the way the story is told. We don’t have Wren sitting down in the first chapter and going over her entire history. I love the way that Amy Garvey weaves their back story and history into the current story. She’s a great writer, the descriptions she uses are vivid and remind me of what it was like to be in love with a beautiful boy.

He’s awake, but he’s not, not really–the boy I loved is buried somewhere in a body that looks familiar, but isn’t really the most important part of him.

That Danny, the one who used to chase me down the street, threatening to tickle me if I didn’t kiss him again, who used to piggyback me up and down the science hall after school as we left the building, who used to sing snatches of songs to me on the phone when we were both home in bed at night, he’s been gone for a long time. He’s the one I’m never going to be okay with losing…

Wren’s character is very likable. She is a good big sister, a good girlfriend, and she wants to take responsibility for her actions. She cares about her friends and about her grades, and about her parents. She’s barely holding it together, and I love that about her.

What I didn’t love about this story was Gabriel. I mean, I liked him as a character, but it didn’t really make sense to me that he was there. Wren knew that she had to fix the situation with Danny–she didn’t need Gabriel there to come to that realization. So for me, I don’t get the purpose that he served, and it felt wrong to me that she was kissing him while Danny was still in the picture. I guess that’s kind of the point though, and I appreciated the fact that Wren felt guilty about it, too.

There were some loose ends that weren’t tied up, like the deal with her dad and exactly where Gabriel came from or if he had any kind of special “powers”. That’s not even mentioning the fact that she’s this–witch with virtually no idea how to focus and control her power. idk–I’m picky.

Overall, I really liked this story. Even if you aren’t a zombie fan, Amy Garvey is a great writer and paints an amazing picture, and this is worth reading.

Guess what! We’ve got an ARC to give away! To enter to win your very own copy, just leave a comment on this post and let us know if you like zombie stories and why. Tweet, blog, or tumble for an extra entry (leave link in comments). Ends 11:59pm on Monday 9/26!

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