Black City ~ Elizabeth Richards (arc) review + giveaway

Black City
GP Putnam's Sons BYR
November 13, 2012
384 pages
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Following a terrible war, the United Sentry States is divided. There are humans and there are Darklings - in many ways it is as black and white as that, but in many others it is not.

It's in Black City, one of the government's regional headquarters, where Natalie Buchanan, the human daughter of the Emissary and Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling meet one night. It's a chance encounter that could mean trouble for either of them. It does cause trouble that neither of them saw coming, though.

After her father was killed by a Darkling how can she possibly be falling for one? And how, when he's spent so long on the other side of the wall separating Darklings and humans can Ash be feeling as he does for a human? A Sentry no less?

While things between Ash and Natalie could certainly mean trouble for the both of them, they're not the only one's in danger. With the war between Darklings and humans just ended and things still almost at a  boiling point, any decision could be a crucial one.


You know how vampire books are supposed to be over? How Stephenie Meyer put a stake in that genre? Yeah. If you really believe that, please read The Immortal Rules (by Julie Kagawa), The Hunt (by Andrew Fukuda) and Black City and let me know if you still think so.



I'll admit that I never really did think vampire books, as a whole, had bitten the dust. Sure Twilight seemed to bring everybody and their second cousin's vampire book out of the woodwork over the last six-ish years. The good, the bad, the really bad.

But we seem to be moving toward a reinvented vampire world. Vampires don't have to be your Anne Rice vampire or even your Buffy vampire -- and they don't sparkle, either. Authors are creating a whole world around creatures who are still vampires, even if they tend to have different names and some different attributes.

Which is what Elizabeth Richards has done in Black City with the Darklings. The Darklings do drink blood, the don't like sunlight . . . but they attend school, they're governed as a race like humans are. That and so much more that is a part of the story and a part of the world Richards created in her novel.

Black City is a post-apocalyptic, almost steampunk if the background set story where the details really help to create a fully realized world. The government is explained, the war, the segregation, the current discord, the characters lives -- both with the war and currently. It's all worked into the story so that things are learned as you go, not so that it feels like a history lesson.

This, all as you're getting the great story between the characters. Natalie who is the daughter of the Emissary and just moved back to Black City. A girl who's also dealing with recent loss her family suffered, which also plays into how she feels about Darklings. Then there's Ash who is one character to the outside world but seems to be another character when we see his thoughts and as he lets people in more.

I really enjoyed that the novel was told in alternating, first person perspective chapters allowing us to get more insight into both Natalie and Ash. It gives the reader more of a view both into their lives and into their thoughts on the other.

Black City is an incredibly imaginative as well as incredibly readable book that draws you in right away. The world Elizabeth Richards has created seems to be fully realized and I'm excited that this is only the first in a series!

Rating: 10/10






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thank you to Penguin for my arc and for making the giveaway possible