Lisa Reviews: Elizabeth Richard's - "Black City"

The cover of Black City is mind blowing! It’s artistic and unique and I’ve never seen anything like it before. What do you think?

Black City is a broken down and damaged society and in shambles due to warfare.  Both Humans and Darklings (vampires) live in this society. But while the Humans reside inside of the city, Darklings are forced to live in the ghettos outside of the city limits. Black City is run a man named Purian Rose who is intimidating, scary, and starting wars to get rid of Darklings. Though most citizens or Darklings have never even seen the man, fear strikes them when they hear his name.

The story follows two very opposite teenagers. Natalie, the daughter of an Emissary of Black City and Ash who is a halfling (half human, half darkling), but is allowed to live inside the city because his father is human. While Natalie is used to living a pampered life, and almost never finding herself in any trouble, no matter how rebellious she can get, Ash is dealing haze (a drug found only in darkling fangs) just to earn extra money.

*I know how this sounds, rich and spoiled girl falls in love with poor bad boy. But Elizabeth Richards makes it much more than that.*

Being as rebellious as she is, Natalie is surprised when her mother enrols her into a working class school. There she recognizes the same guy she saw a couple of nights ago, dealing haze. The two couldn’t be more different, and because of that they bump heads and completely disagree. But soon, both start to have feelings for one another.

A human/darkling couple would never be accepted and is looked down on in the society that Purian Rose has established. So the two try their hardest to stay away from one another. But really, when does that ever work? Darklings are exactly what Purian Rose is trying to get rid of… yes, even Ash.

Before I say anything, I do have to admit that I went into reading Black City with a bad taste in my mouth. I was pulled in by the cover, but I became hesitant when I realized that was another book about vampires. I think we can all agree that the vampire thing is overkill. But Black City doesn’t focus on the entire “vampire” idea. That information is more in the background.

And one more thing, before I completely drool all over my keyboard and fan girl over this story, I want to get the negative out off of my chest first. The one and only thing that truly bothered me was the instant love between Ash and Natalie.

I really enjoy seeing two people who are so different deal with one another, and overcome their differences. But only after a couple of chapters, the two couldn’t stop thinking about each other, nor stay away from one another. I like seeing a little bit of conflict between Ash and Natalie. Then I wanted to see them be forced to work together, to solve whatever it is they need each other for, and then they fall in love… I just feel that the beginning of their relationship was a bit forced.

I think we’ve all seen movies about the rich girl who falls in love with the poor boy, and she is willing to do and give up anything and everything just to be with him. But Black City is so much more than that. Characters in Black City seemed to be real, and have substance behind them.

Ash is battling within himself, unsure of where he belongs, or who he belongs to. Natalie on the other hand is having mommy issues. She is also dealing with an obsessive ex-boyfriend, who is also her bodyguard. So it seems that she can never get away from him.

Purian Rose is the “cult” leader that the community never really sees, but still brings fear to many. Though he may seem to be trying to do the right thing, he isn’t.

The ending, you may ask? Well I can’t say anything about it, because I don’t want to give anything away! I promise it’s for the best!

The writing style was dark, scary and sexy. There was no room between action scenes and things moved quickly! If you haven’t read this one, or the second book, Phoenix, you should get on that!