Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Title: Black City

Series: Black City #1

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Page Count: 374

Publisher: Putnam

In the aftermath of a brutal and bloody war, in the still-smoldering Black City, sixteen-year-olds Natalie Buchanan and Ash Fisher do the unthinkable - they fall in love.  Natalie, a human and the daughter of a government official, is still reeling from her father's murder by a crazed Darkling, upending her entire life. So how can she now be falling for Ash, a brooding half-blood Darkling boy? Natalie's heart betrays everything she's ever believed with one magnetic beat, forcing her to choose between her family and the boy she loves.

Ash tries desperately to deny his feelings for Natalie. She is a Sentry brat, after all. The very Sentry who would love nothing more than to see all Darklings totally eradicated from the United Sentry States. For now, they've settled for banishing all Darklings to the wrong side of a ghetto wall. Despite being half-human and being allowed to live on the human side, Ash is still scorned everywhere he goes, always wondering what it would be like on the other side of the wall with his own kind. Then Natalie steps into his life, a calming force, and he, too, has to choose. But choosing Natalie could get them both killed.

My Thoughts

This book was an impulse buy from Amazon. I was browsing through books and somehow ended up on Black City. The cover was really pretty and the description was intriguing. So I ordered it. This is another impulse buy that I am SO GLAD I went with. I loved this story. I didn't want it to end, and when it ended anyway against my wishes, I went right out and bought Phoenix because I HAD to read the next installment in this series right away.

First things first. I thought the very first scene in the book was a little more risque than it needed to be. I get that what was going on needed to be described, but this was the only scene in the book that went to this level and struck me as a little uncomfortable for a young adult book. Then again, I teach 8th grade so I might be a little over-sensitive about certain things. Anywho. Moving on. 

I loved Ash. I liked Natalie a lot, but I loved Ash. While both characters were very well developed I found that I liked Ash just a little bit more. But together they were great. We have the slightly overdone privileged girl rebelling against her family to date the bad boy, but it worked. Natalie ended up making sacrifices for Ash, which cemented my belief in the reality of their relationship. Ash was intriguing. The hints about his family and the Darkling race were vague enough to pique my curiosity but also gave me just enough information to keep me from getting frustrated. I really enjoyed the switching back and forth between their viewpoints because it let me see certain situations from more than one angle. Even when one character knew something that the other didn't the switching viewpoints weren't confusing to me. I was completely invested in both characters within a couple chapters.

The world building was pretty effective in this book. The author shared a lot of information with us without coming right out and just listing everything that had happened. We learn about the wall and Darklings and half-bloods and their culture bit by bit as the story progresses. The new knowledge that is shared with us comes naturally with the story and never seems forced. I enjoyed learning about this dystopian world, and imagined myself living in it as one of Ash or Natalie's friends. The action was fast-paced and the story moved right along. With the viewpoint switching back and forth every chapter you didn't have to worry about anything dragging out too long or getting boring. As the end of the book approached I found myself reading faster and faster because I couldn't wait to read what was going to happen next.

This was a great dystopian read in my opinion. The world building was effective and the characters were easy to get attached to. The books ended on such a high note that I ran right out to buy the second installment in the series! Can't wait for the third book to come out next year!