"Cold Kiss" by Amy Garvey

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."

Stories of resurrected romance have been told over and over again (heck, just watch the cartoon of the Peverell brothers in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 or check out the "Prom Dates From Hell" or "Vacations From Hell" anthologies), however, this book had a wholly unique spin on it, as unlike many of those other resurrected romance stories, this one constituted an entire book, rather than mere pages of an anthology or a small portion of a larger tale. As such, the characters were so much more developed in this book than they ever have been in the shorter tales, as was the plot and the overall feel of the book.

However, I do think that the short resurrected romance stories had one thing over this book- their endings (in many of the short stories I have read the resurrected partner begins to become mentally unstable and wrecks havoc everywhere that they go). I think that the ending of this book would have been much more interesting and creepy had Danny done more than yelled at a tree and hugged Wren too tight (for instance, with the cat. Now this may sound a bit morbid and shocking coming from me as I am a certified cat-lady-in-the-making, but I think that had Danny done something to the cat when it was lost, ie. killed it or whatevs, as opposed to petting it on its head and sending it on its merry way with a note attached to it). At times, I couldn't understand why Gabriel and Wren were getting so worked up and frantic about Danny when he rarely did anything aside from sleep and draw in the attic- had he actually done something MAJOR I think that their reactions would have been more justified.  

The earlier romance between Danny and Wren was so sweet and amazingly written (seriously, Amy's prose in this book was breathtaking) that I think it near impossible for the reader to not fall for them. And then when Gabriel came along and tried to sweep Wren off of her feet, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't not like him- mainly because he was so open-minded and non-judgmental when it came to Wren (and her selfishness).    

All in all, this is a perfect book for YA readers who love a book that has more emphasis on romantic elements than paranormal elements (Twi-hards will gobble this book up in no time and ask for seconds) and I am quite excited to see what Amy has in store for us next! 

Rating: 8/10

I received this book from the publisher/ NetGalley to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.