Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Cold: a novel) through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.
A ghost, a determined girl, and the law looking for a murderer. A teenage boy with no friends lies murdered, and the search is on to discover why. Two voices tell the story: Todd as a ghost retracing parts of his life, and Georgia, a girl who finds herself drawn to him, wanting to know why he died.
A Brief Overview
Cold: a novel was written by Mariko Tamaki. This hardcover novel is LGBT+based, with the two main characters being same-gender-oriented. A mystery that involves a detective-minded teenage girl, a ghost of a murdered teen boy, and a couple of detectives. At 240 pages, this Roaring Brook Press novel is written for youth 12-18 years of age. I am reviewing on behalf of Raincoast Books.
What do you get?
You’ll get chapters varying in perspective with Georgia and Todd taking turns telling the story. We’ll see Todd with his pink mittens and Molly as she searches the scene.
You know how you yell by using all caps? The author made copious use of this. Sometimes the yelling made no sense. I can understand yelling in an argument, or even hollering back and forth with a sibling, but some of the other all caps didn’t fit the context.
The text is easy to read, and I liked how texting had it’s own font, keeping it very clear. It is large and very easy to read, making the book seem longer than it actually was. 🙂
You’ll find the language uncomplicated, very easy to read. It felt like a middle-school read in reading style and format. I was surprised to see it is recommended for up to 18 because of the reading style. Given the sexual intimacy scene, it does suit an older audience, but then it shouldn’t be geared to 12-year-olds. So I think the age range is inappropriate.
Should you get it?
Honestly. it wasn’t my cup of tea. The initial three chapters bored me to tears. This lead me to skip ahead to the end to see if it interested me enough to want to try harder. It didn’t. It is NOT a fun book to read.
I did make myself read it through and remained unimpressed. The lesbian intimacy turned me off completely, enough that no, I can’t recommend this book. Particularly not in a book recommended for youth under the age of 18.
A bullied boy with no real friends because of his same-gender attractions. A same-gender-oriented girl with the mind of a detective, sussing out truth, while dealing with her own friendship issues. Honestly, not all same-gender-oriented kids lack friendships. And this book makes it feel that way and it’s just an icky book.
Now, if you are an adult and want to engage in LGBT+literature, and want to understand the pain of being bullied. Or perhaps you want to follow a young girls’ detective skills, then you can find Cold: a novel on Amazon.
Nope. Just your title made me say no. I am sad that this type of literature is being marketed to such a young age.
Just a total no.