Review: Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Title: Black City

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Reviewed by: Cassie

The Fairies Say: Interesting and intriguing

Summary (from Goodreads.com)

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable-they fall in love. Bounded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash's long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they're caught they'll be executed-but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

 Before we get started, I must tell you all that this wasn't my cup of tea. I encourage you to try this and see if you like the first few chapters, but if you don't, you'll probably feel like me. Let's begin.

Black City begins with Ash dealing the Darkling drug Haze. It comes from their venom sacks in their teeth, so when a Darkling (or twin-blood, like Ash) bites a human, the drug gets released into the human, and Ash gets the much-needed blood. Unfortunately, the girl is a new customer and has drugs in her system, and Ash spits out the sour-tasting blood.

Onto the characters. This was what got me. Natalie is a spoiled brat in the first part, and in the second half of the book she's a love-sick, stupid teenager. She's a Sentry brat, but then she meets ASH.

Ash is half Darkling, half human. He thinks he's the only one and neither side embraces him fully. He craves blood, but has always grown up with humans. He does what he does to survive, and during one of these Haze dealings, he meets Natalie.

And then BAM. Insta-love.

Or, at least, as much as insta-love as we can get, because they hate each other for a while. But, of course, good girl falls for the bad boy and la-dee-da.

Honestly, I found nothing appealing about Ash. Whenever I thought of him Julie Kagawa's Ash popped into my mind, and this guy was dirt compared to faery Ash. Honestly, Black City Ash is a dick, no beating around the bush, and what he does is despicable.

Natalie is just as disgusting. She first is kinda tough, sassy . . . But then she can't stop thinking about Ash and whoop! Her building mediocre-ness was just defenestrated. And she became a sappy, die/kill-for-love sorta girl. I must admit, I wouldn't mind pouring hot tea on her.

The plot was decent; I saw the twist coming though. The world is actually pretty good-really creative- but there's so much history lacking.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy December!

xoxo

Cassie