violetpeanut
Written on Jan 12, 2014
Ash, a sixteen-year-old twin-blood who sells his addictive venom, "Haze," to support his dying mother, and Natalie, the daughter of a diplomat, discover their mysterious--and forbidden--connection in the Black City, where humans and Darklings struggle to rebuild after a brutal war.
- ISBN10 0399159436
- ISBN13 9780399159435
- Publish Date 13 November 2012 (first published 1 November 2012)
- Publish Status Remaindered
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Penguin Putnam Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 384
- Language English
Reviews
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Apr 30, 2013
When we enter the city we discover a dark and decaying world. The tale is told in the alternating perspective of Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling and Natalie Buchanan, daughter of the Emissary and human. Darklings and humans are separated by a huge wall and tension is escalating. Half-bloods are permitted to live with their human parents, and laws expressly forbid further mixing or breeding of races. When Ash and Natalie meet a bond is formed and Ash’s dormant heart begins to beat. A Romeo and Juliet romance, political upheaval, betrayal, danger and love are revealed as the tale unfolds.
When we meet Ash he has such a bad boy persona; drug dealer, law breaker and full of attitude, but in truth he is complicated, torn, sweet, and protective. He does not really fit in and the more I learned about him, the more I liked him. Natalie struggles with a lot of issues and really started out living in her own, “me” bubble. In fact I thought she was spoiled and shallow. Watching her develop as a character and to expand her views beyond herself was amazing. She is selfless, strong, kick-ass and I adored her. When the two of them meet, there is chemistry but they also dislike each other due to "race" issues. I found it powerful and fascinating to watch them recognize qualities they admired in each other and connect. There are secondary characters of interest that really help develop and strengthen the world Ash and Natalie live in. I felt they were all fairly developed and I loved that Richard’s made me connect with them whether it was because I loathed them, respected them or just out and out hated them.
In a world where loving a Darkling will see both human and darkling executed, this tale had a real Romeo and Juliet romance. What made this unique was the dark, gritty, brutal world that Richards placed them in. She gave us a really strong sense of the atrocities that humans inflicted upon Darklings with their leader Puritan Rose. It is a time of unrest, food shortages, and social gaps with a religious dictator ruling them all. Add in a deadly virus and things get interesting! She does a fantastic job of revealing the government’s propaganda further drawing us into the tale. The Darklings were fascinating and I enjoyed learning about the different breeds through Natalie. Hatred, addiction and an oppressive government are all hot topics and each thread was developed. The pacing was well done and I easily slipped into the world, the dual POV’s allowed me to gain an in-depth look at the characters. Their thoughts and actions also providing me insight into the two races. There are a few threads and hints of things that have me anxious for answers! I consumed this in two sittings and connected with the characters. The ending had my emotions all over the place and set things up perfectly for book two.
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer
e_rodz_leb
Written on Mar 2, 2013
What an awesome book! I started reading Black City a while ago and for some reason I stopped about 2/3s of the way. I want to kick myself now for taking so long to read it!
Natalie is only 16, but she’s had a difficult life. She has seen death, betrayal, loss, love and what politics and lies can do first hand. Natalie is brave, loyal, smart, and tries to do the right thing. Ash is a half-blood Darkling, is in the Black City side of the wall that divides humans from Darklings, and is the only of his kind there. Ash had a very hard and lonely life, full of loss and discrimination. Neither of the characters is perfect, far from it; and the fact that I like them and was cheering for them is a testament to the Richard’s writing.
Other characters are well developed and add a lot of depth to the story. I liked Natalie’s friend Day, Ash’s friend Beetle, Mr. Fisher. I distrusted Sigur and despised Sebastian and Ms. Buchanan. However, Puritan Rose sounds a lot like President Rose from the Hunger Games and, like him, is both vile and charismatic. I reserve my judgment about Evangeline until later.
The relationship between Ash and Natalie develops really fast, which normally is very off-putting to me, BUT I loved it in Black City. The reason is that this fact is a critical point in the plot and part of Darkling’s believes (and even anatomy); it is a beautiful concept. I’m glad that the couple felt deeply in love with one another, enough to overcome incredible opposition.
The story is told in alternating points of view, thus we get to know both Ash and Natalie quite well. I really like this format as it allows the reader (me!) to be in more than place at a time and to understand the characters better. As you can tell form my incoherent gushing, Black City has incredible characterization, not only regarding the protagonists, but also secondary characters. The writing is well paced, fluent and descriptive. The plot is a gem. I have read many vampire books and this one is unique. There are different types of Darklings (‘vampires’) that not only look different, but have their own language, culture and rituals. Richards creates a unique world, which undergoes the same struggles and problems of modern society, namely racism, discrimination, segregation and the aftermath of war. Please note that there are very mature topics in here, such as addiction, nudity, discrimination, and sex (even though is not graphic).
Black City made me cry and I’m happy with the ending (thank goodness!). I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Phoenix from Putnam (thanks!) that I plan to read very soon!
Some quotes for you:
“I love you, Ash,” she says.
“I love you too,” I say. “So begins my heart…”
“So begins our life,” she whispers back, remembering the words I told her the night we first kissed…
“Everlasting,” we say together. The Blood Vow…
“What was it like not having a heartbeat?” I say softly…
“It was hell.” He eventually says. “It was like being stuck between life and death; I could walk, talk, breathe, eat, but I never felt truly alive. I never felt part of this world.”
“And now you do?”
“Yes. Because of you.”
About the cover: The cover is breathtaking! A flower (I presume is a rose), a thing of beauty violently exploding and in the background the city.
lizarodz
Written on Mar 2, 2013
What an awesome book! I started reading Black City a while ago and for some reason I stopped about 2/3s of the way. I want to kick myself now for taking so long to read it!
Natalie is only 16, but she’s had a difficult life. She has seen death, betrayal, loss, love and what politics and lies can do first hand. Natalie is brave, loyal, smart, and tries to do the right thing. Ash is a half-blood Darkling, is in the Black City side of the wall that divides humans from Darklings, and is the only of his kind there. Ash had a very hard and lonely life, full of loss and discrimination. Neither of the characters is perfect, far from it; and the fact that I like them and was cheering for them is a testament to the Richard’s writing.
Other characters are well developed and add a lot of depth to the story. I liked Natalie’s friend Day, Ash’s friend Beetle, Mr. Fisher. I distrusted Sigur and despised Sebastian and Ms. Buchanan. However, Puritan Rose sounds a lot like President Rose from the Hunger Games and, like him, is both vile and charismatic. I reserve my judgment about Evangeline until later.
The relationship between Ash and Natalie develops really fast, which normally is very off-putting to me, BUT I loved it in Black City. The reason is that this fact is a critical point in the plot and part of Darkling’s believes (and even anatomy); it is a beautiful concept. I’m glad that the couple felt deeply in love with one another, enough to overcome incredible opposition.
The story is told in alternating points of view, thus we get to know both Ash and Natalie quite well. I really like this format as it allows the reader (me!) to be in more than place at a time and to understand the characters better. As you can tell form my incoherent gushing, Black City has incredible characterization, not only regarding the protagonists, but also secondary characters. The writing is well paced, fluent and descriptive. The plot is a gem. I have read many vampire books and this one is unique. There are different types of Darklings (‘vampires’) that not only look different, but have their own language, culture and rituals. Richards creates a unique world, which undergoes the same struggles and problems of modern society, namely racism, discrimination, segregation and the aftermath of war. Please note that there are very mature topics in here, such as addiction, nudity, discrimination, and sex (even though is not graphic).
Black City made me cry and I’m happy with the ending (thank goodness!). I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Phoenix from Putnam (thanks!) that I plan to read very soon!
Some quotes for you:
“I love you, Ash,” she says.
“I love you too,” I say. “So begins my heart…”
“So begins our life,” she whispers back, remembering the words I told her the night we first kissed…
“Everlasting,” we say together. The Blood Vow…
“What was it like not having a heartbeat?” I say softly…
“It was hell.” He eventually says. “It was like being stuck between life and death; I could walk, talk, breathe, eat, but I never felt truly alive. I never felt part of this world.”
“And now you do?”
“Yes. Because of you.”
About the cover: The cover is breathtaking! A flower (I presume is a rose), a thing of beauty violently exploding and in the background the city.
Kelly
Written on Nov 29, 2012
Briana @ Pages Unbound
Written on Nov 19, 2012
Review: Black City has an attention-grabbing premise. It is set in a seemingly post-apocalyptic world where Darklings (*coughvampirescough*) are segregated from humans because of their race. The two main characters, obviously, must first recognize their prejudices and then work to overcome the injustices and cruelty enacted by the government of their world. Deep themes and some kick-ass action? It sounds like the ultimate YA read. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver, and generally gives the impression of Twlight in a more interesting setting.
One major parallel between Twilight and Black City is the problematic romance. It is insta-love. There is a love triangle (albeit an unbelievable one). Ash is not as good of a boyfriend as Natalie blindly believes. The first two statements barely need elaboration. The third will need some defense.
(Minor spoilers in this paragraph about their relationship.) Ash is a drug dealer. That alone should send Natalie running. Instead, however, she rationalizes and defends it. She states that she is willing to accept the bad of Ash’s character with his good because she loves him. Now, recognizing that your boyfriend is human (er, half-human) and therefore flawed is one thing, a good thing. Expecting perfection is also bad for relationships. Yet suggesting he need not change major bad habits is dangerous. Couples, recognizing that neither of them is perfect, should help each other to become the best people they can be, instead of excusing negative qualities entirely. Natalie is setting a poor example for teens. Also, in case this was unclear, Ash deals drugs!
(Minor spoilers in this paragraph about their relationship). If that is not enough, Ash is sort of a cheater. He sees one other girl, recognizes he has a physical attraction to her, and is ready to run to her. How…endearing? Richards seems to be attempting to portray some inner struggle that Ash endures (which is clear once you read the book), but she fails. Ash does not struggle. He never tries to push the other girl away at all, but instead welcomes her touch in the name of “discovering which girl he is really attracted to.” It seems to be his opinion that your soul mate is whichever person you have the best time kissing, with her personality being irrelevant. This philosophy gets in the way of my personal interpretation of Ash’s being a kind person and a good boyfriend.
Black City also suffers from the quality of its writing. Individual sentences are fine; Richards clearly does have a wonderful command of the English writing. The overall construction of the novel, however, is flawed. Richards attempts to cram a lot of action into Black City—but very little of it is particularly exciting. In the first place, nothing unexpected happens. Even minor details click into place exactly the way a reader would envision them. There is not an excessive amount of foreshadowing that enables readers to predict plot events, but once plot events do occur, the immediate reaction is not surprise but a shrugged Yeah, that would happen. Secondly, so much happens that none of it is given the time it deserves in build-up, event, or aftermath. In Chapter 17 alone I made note of a sudden romance, a sudden fight, and a sudden death. This was anomaly in that usually each “major” occurrence—such as a dramatic rift between friends—lasts for one or two whole chapters.
The world behind all this events does not fare much better. Black City sounds like a fascinating place, but its history is unclear. To start, whether this novel is set in a future version of our world or in some alternate universe where there is also a United (Sentry) States is unclear. (In Nameless by Lili St. Crow, for example, there are vampiric creatures who suddenly appeared in what was previously our world. The same could be true of Black City, but it is a mystery.) Next, the history of the Darklings is underdeveloped. Readers do learn that the enforced segregation is very recent, having occurred during Natalie’s lifetime. But how did Darklings and humans live together before then? Richards implies it was fairly peaceful—but then later states that if segregation were to end, Darklings would need to find a way to eat besides drugging and feeding on humans. I dislike sounding as if I would be on the racist government’s side in this novel, but if the modus operandi for Darklings had always been to attack, drug, and drain humans, I understand their dislike and fear. In minor details, the word “fragg” as a curse can be annoying (I dislike invented profanity in general, so no offense to Black City), and the fact that Ash’s fangs tend to throb whenever he is angry or amorous is funny and maybe unnecessary. The parallel drawn to male genitals here made me mildly uncomfortable, especially for something that served little purpose.
I dislike having to write such a negative for Black City. I very honestly believed it had potential, first from the summary and second from the fact that Penguin had decided to publish it even though the vampire trend is very close to dead. I trust editors, and they clearly see something special and innovative about Black City. In the end, I just did not see it, too. However, there are a lot of very positive reviews for this book, and if paranormal romance and vampires is something you as a reader really love, this book could work for you. If you like Twilight, especially, I think this has many of the same characteristics—but better.
This review is also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.
Suz @ Bookish Revelations
Written on Sep 24, 2012
Richards tackles the sensitive subject of what love will do to a person and to what extent it will drive them. For both Ash and Natalie, being from two different worlds separated by a wall and sparking another potentially dangerous war if found out, makes things even more complex and terrifying. The emotional range explored between these two is wonderfully developed and captivating. It's just beautifully engaging and incredibly unpredictable in all of the right ways. These intense characters are stunningly strong, likable, and easy for readers to connect with.
The world building is phenomenal. It's dark, gritty, and terrifying in the best possible ways. The idea of darklings versus humans separated by a wall, was such a fantastic brilliant edgey concept that made the book that much more intriguing and enjoyable. It's such a raw and amazing story, that fans of dark rich multi-layered and complex dystopian novels will want to flock to it. This is definitely a MUST READ book for sure, not to be missed out on. Elizabeth Richards doesn't hold back in bringing the awesome to life!
layawaydragon
Written on Sep 2, 2012
Ashley
Written on Aug 29, 2012
Wow, wow, wow, wow!!! I feel like I still need time to process Black City's awesomeness. I feel like my review will barely do it justice, but here it goes..
Guys, I am a sucker for forbidden love stories, and this is definitely one of them! I absolutely loved the story in Black City. It's heartbreaking, intriguing, and a fresh take on vampires. I'm always wary of vampire stories. I don't know why, I just am. But I adored Black City! And furthermore, Black City isn't just a romance story, and it isn't just a vampire story. Ultimately, this book is about freedom and simple human rights that have been lost. This book is really about the politics, society, and oppression that the "Darklings" face. It's about segregation and power, and the lengths people will go through to obtain that power.
One thing that surprised me about this book was how much mature content was in it. The protagonist, Natalie, is only 16, but we still read a lot about drugs, and even a bit about sex. There aren't any explicitly sexual scenes, but they talk about 16-year-olds having sex and doing drugs. Usually this seems to be non-existent in stories with younger protagonists, but it does happen in real life, so it was refreshing to read about it.. even though this isn't exactly a contemporary book. :P And oh my gosh, the sexual tension! Guys, it's awesome. It's delicious. And the romance in this book is so powerful, touching, and moving, and all those other amazing words! This book ripped a hole in my chest and took out my heart because it made me feel a desperate need to be with my own boyfriend, but I couldn't, because we were over 5,000 miles apart. Seeing Natalie with Ash and the lengths they would go to for each other had me getting so teary and happy and..I don't even know.
I was ripping through the pages of Black City like you wouldn't believe. The last quarter of the book in particular is... kind of amazing. It's so intense and every time I thought I had reached the "climax" of the book, another crazy, intense, page-turning event would happen. I literally felt like this book was real. I could feel the emotion dripping from the pages and in my head, I treated the characters as if they were real. I was thinking things like, "I can't believe he had to endure that!" when obviously the character doesn't really exist. But these characters feel real and they endure terrifyingly real hardships.
My one problem with this book was the world-building. Don't get me wrong, the world that Elizabeth Richards has created is incredible and believable. I loved all the details about the government and the society, but I had a hard time understanding some of the historical elements. I felt like there were a few details lacking that would have better helped explain the whole situation. I mostly had a hard time figuring out if this was a futuristic paranormal story about Darklings evolving from humans (or existing because of some kind of virus), or if this was a totally fantastical story about a world where Darklings have always existed. Was Black City supposed to be read as a realistic glimpse into our future, or something totally fictional?
But other than that small thing, this book was incredible. It was so emotional and the romance was slow building and passionate. It did have a "soul mate" vibe, but it wasn't insta-love, which is kind of unique and.. awesome. Black City is powerfully heart wrenching, and yet also inspiring. The fantasy elements are woven in so beautifully that I easily believed they could totally be real! I feel like I'm in physical pain, knowing that I'll have to wait like a year to read the second book!