Review: Cold Kiss

Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey
Release Date: September 20, 2011
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 304 pages
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Harper Teen

(Summary from Goodreads)

“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.

My Review

When I read the summary for Cold Kiss, I was instantly intrigued. Many of us have a lost someone we have loved, myself included. But wouldn’t it be nice to have the power to bring them back. To be able to see, hear, and touch that person one more time. Wren who comes from a family of witches, had the power to do so. When she lost her boyfriend Danny, Wren felt like her world came tumbling down. She couldn’t face the idea of a world without him in it. Instead of grieving and moving on, Wren decides to use her witching powers and bring Danny back from the dead. But the Danny that she resurrected was not her Danny that she fell in love with. The saying be careful what you wish for definitely applies to this story.

Cold Kiss seemed like it was going to be a good story but alas I was sorely disappointed.  I felt the story lacked any real emotion. While I could understand Wren’s heartbreak and her desire to want to be with Danny again, I did not feel like there was enough story or background information given of their love that would allow me to get invested in these two characters. From the start the reader is immediately thrust into the aftermath of Wren bringing Danny back from the dead. I would have liked to see some kind of prior story of their relationship and then lead up to bringing him back. Sure there are snippets here and there of what Danny was like before but it just wasn’t enough for me.  As for Danny, he reminded me much of the character of Frankenstein. Lacking feeling, robotic, and at times scary. I also could not understand how Wren could profess to be so in love and distraught about Danny and what she’s done, but yet she finds time to fall for another guy.

I know there were many people who enjoyed this story but I just couldn’t get into this book. I had to force myself to finish it just to see how it would end.  I would say read this book at your own risk.

I give this book my lowest rating, one star out of five stars.