"Black City" by Elizabeth Richards

Title: Black City

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Series: Black City, #1

My rating: 3 of 5

(Book read for a read-along from May 21st to May 29th, 2013.) 

Summary:

  

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. Bonded 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.

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

 

When I started Black City, I thought that I will love this book. The world-building was so great, and I loved the way this book started. But, then, I realized I decided too soon.

The world-building was so good, the world & the story itself started interesting with potential for delivering a great book, but unfortunately, for me, that didn't happen.

The world was really bleak & the mood of the book gloomy, and the author managed to capture all of that, but it felt a little bit off & it was a little bit too predictable, and those twists & turns that should've surprise me or wow me, they didn't.

I guess I just didn't care about the characters enough & about everything that has happened or was happening in the book. Sure, the world & the society was awful & sad, but too predictable.

I thought that Ash was really interesting character, and I liked him overall, but in the end I didn't care enough about him. Also, I wasn't a fan of the romance. Yeah, okay, it was insta-love, but that's the case when it comes to mates (in this case Blood Mates), but that wasn't the problem, I just wasn't feeling the chemistry between Ash & Natalie at all. Add to that the love triangle - I stopped enjoying this book. Yeah, okay, it was almost a love triangle & different, and I remember long ago saying "Why does it have to be one girl & 2 boys, why can't it be one guy & 2 girls?", and I got that, but I still didn't like it. And it wasn't only that, there were lots of other things that contributed to me for not enjoying this book anymore, and I seriously only finished it because of the read-along. If it wasn't for the read-along, I would've put it aside & probably finish it some time in the future.

Other thing I have to point out & that it felt a little bit off to me & as the story progressed started to irritate me a little, too, was that every few chapters the next chapter started after some period of time, even though something interesting happened at the end of the previous one, suddenly it cuts to something quite different. Sure, it's explained what happened, and I don't have to see (read) about everything in details, (that's what imagination is for), but as I said it felt off & it ruined the pacing of the story. Just when I thought something interesting happened, it was cut.

As for the ending of this book, it was ok, although predictable, but I don't know if I'll read the sequel. I might give it a shot, but I'm not really sure, probably not. Depending on the reviews for the sequel.

Black City was an average read for me, and overall I liked it, but I can't really recommend it. What I'd say is that you should check it out for yourself & decide. This isn't the first time that a well-loved & well-praised YA book was only an ok read for me, so you should definitely check out some other reviews as well before you decide.

 

Challenges:

2013 TBR Pile Challenge

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

2013 Read-along Challenge