The Coldest Touch ARC Review // a non-sparkly sapphic vampire delight

As a reader, I follow a strict reading code. The rules are pretty simple and desinged to keep me from reading books that will only make me fee slumpy.

The first rule is no vampires. I don’t need that Twighlight-esque energy in my life, thank you very much. I tend to stear clear, because it really isn’t my thing. The teeth, the resumes, 2010s energy? I’ll pass.

The second is incest. Which seems like it would be a given, but based on all the TikToks I’ve seen about Cassandra Clare’s books, it isn’t?? Yeah. That keep me far far far away. Again. Don’t need that energy in my life.

With that said, let us start with the fact that The Coldest Touch might convert me into a vampire enthusiast yet. Normally I’m firmly anti-vampire, but the intriguing premise and promise of sapphic romance was enough to lure me to the dark side.

A big thank you to the publisher for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Book: The Coldest Touch

Author: Isabel Sterling

Expected publication: December 7th 2021 by Razorbill

Format: Finished copy from the publisher

content warnings

blood, light violence

Elise Beaumont is cursed. With every touch, she experiences exactly how her loved ones will die. And after her brother’s death—a death she predicted but was unable to prevent—Elise is desperate to get rid of her terrible gift, no matter the cost.

Claire Montgomery also has a unique relationship with death, mostly because she’s already dead. Technically, anyway. Claire is a vampire, and she’s been assigned by the Veil to help Elise master her rare Death Oracle powers.

At first, Elise is reluctant to work with a vampire, but when she predicts a teacher’s imminent murder, she’s determined to stop the violent death, even if it means sacrificing her own future to secure Claire’s help.

The trouble is, Claire and Elise aren’t the only paranormals in town—a killer is stalking the streets, and Claire can’t seem to shake the pull she feels toward Elise, a romance that could upend the Veil’s mission. But as Elise and Claire grow closer, Elise begins to wonder—can she really trust someone tasked with securing her loyalty? Someone who could so easily kill her? Someone who might hold the key to unraveling her brother’s mysterious death? (from Goodreads)

This might be one of the only times “lure” is used in a positive context, because holy cow, I’m so glad I was in fact lured. Sterling creates a darkly intriguing world filled with all sorts of supernatural entities and spooky delights.

The whole premise of the Death Oracle (a person who can predict death) combined with all the other elements of the world make for a truly magical read. Combine it with light writing and snappy dialogue, and you have a story you can’t help but sink your teeth into.

The Coldest Touch has a lot of great things going for it, but I wish there would have been more stakes (but not any through the heart, that would be bad) throughout the book. We felt some of it towards the end, but I wish it would have had more urgency throughout. I felt like I was being dragged through the events, rather than experiencing the story unfold.

The pacing honestly feels all over the place because the vast majority of this book was spent training. That didn’t help with the whole “being dragged along” effect. Maybe if The Coldest Touch had leaned more into the complicated political climate within the Veil and less on training, training, and more training some parts wouldn’t have felt as dragged out.

Addiionally, some of the side characters felt a bit underdeveloped. Like vehicles to move the plot forward. This applies more to Elise’s friends than to the other characters (like Wyn) but it is still something that irked me a bit. Especially because parts of the beginning were reliant on Elise having to rebuild friendships following her brother’s death, I needed a bit more development to care.

That being said, the found family sort of relationship between Wyn and Claire is one of my favorites from the book. The way they bickered like siblings, but still supported each other was just brilliant.

The way the conflict gets resolved wasn’t my favorite. I don’t want to say it was too easy, but also… it felt too easy. Like we spent the whole book building up to this dramatic confrontation just for it to feel anticlimactic. And then a huge uno-reverse is pulled on one of the main motivators for the entire plot. Which sort of felt like it was unraveling the entire point of everything ever.

All and all, The Coldest Touch is a fun spooky read. It really enjoyed the angst happening with the romance, and honestly, that was the thing that kept me reading. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for low-fantasy, dual pov, and some good ole vampires! But in the meantime, add it to your tbr if it sounds intriguing! Because it comes out TOMORROW AHHH!