Black City by Elizabeth Richards
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Blurb (on back of book):
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-old 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 OPINION: *
Okay, this is the first one star book I've ever put on this blog.
Wow.
I had such high expectations for this book. I mean, my friend recommended it to me and even lent me her copy. She was raving about it and I had already started it before so I thought "Okay, sure, let's try this out."
WARNING: There are major spoilers ahead that I will try to block off as best as I can
At first, I was in love with it.
It had a really good beginning, but once we got past that, ughhh.
The only thing that kept me reading was so that I could write and rant about this book in this review.
Oh, and I wanted to see what was going to happen to Natalie and Ash.
The thing is, I didn't even ship the MCs.
Let's break this book down...
Wait. A lot of my friends gave it meh or mediocre ratings... I read some other reviews that loved it and some who hated it.
So there's a mix of opinions about this book.
BOOK BREAK UP
*We start the book with Ash's POV and are introduced to our first MC. He's a "vampire" or a Darkling, as they were called.
*Ash does some really weird things to this girl, as well as drugging her? I guess they both got high from the weird experience...
*Then we see this girl who manages to make Ash's heart "flutter" (PS Ash's heart doesn't beat because he's a Twin-blood)
*We switch to Natalie's POV and we get introduced to our second MC. We also find out that her father was killed by a Darkling and that she has a sister name Polly
*We also meet this guy named Sebastian, who was Natalie's ex until she caught him cheating on her?
*Natalie and Ash have this weird conversation and we get introduced to the Sight, which is some weird Darkling mark for their prey
*Ash threatens Natalie
ALL OF THAT HAPPENED IN TWO CHAPTERS
Let's continue.
*We are switched back to Ash's POV and we are introduced to his dad, who is a human.
*We learn that Ash doesn't have a heartbeat because he is a mixture of human and Darkling... Okay, I liked that idea. It was pretty cool.
*We learn that Ash feels like a "freak." Of course he does. There's always that character who feels like they don't fit in and of course, it had to be our MC
*We meet his Mom and learns that she is being kept a secret???
I would love to go into more detail but this post will be as long as the book.
Anyway, Natalie manages to start Ash's heart because he's her Blood Mate. Or something like that. They instantly fall in love because they're drawn to each other, being Blood Mates. Honestly, I didn't really understand the concept of Blood Mates.
That was the worst way to fall in love. "Fate was forcing us together" blah blah blah. I wish that it had been more natural. It would have been more real. And the insta-love was kind of cringey, TBH
Of course, that had to happen because this is a love story.
Anyways, we meet this other twin-blood named Evangeline.
Turns out, Natalie has her heart. Natalie's original heart had a hole in it, meaning that she needed a replacement. They took it from Evangeline because she didn't even need it, being a Twin Blood. Oh, and Evangeline was awake while they did it, causing her to feel more hate towards Natalie.
Oh, and because it's not her real heart, Natalie isn't Ash's Blood Mate. Turns out Evangeline is.
WHAT???
So that romance was all a fake?
Nope. Ash doesn't care or whatever because he cares for Natalie.
Oh, yeah, we can't forget the fact that Evangeline is kind of a psycho killer who ripped the hearts out of Natalie's cat and guard.
Yeah.
Oh, another thing that I disliked about the book (note I don't say
hate because I didn't hate the book. I just really disliked it.) EVERYTHING WENT SO FAST.
In one chapter, Natalie replaces Sebastian, her bodyguard and ex, with another guy, leaves the bodyguard while she goes to hang out with her friends, AKA Ash, Beetle and Day get back together after getting drunk, Natalie and Ash kiss, Ash reveals that Natalie is his so-called Blood Mate, Natalie isn't even shocked and legit shows no emotion, we learn that their relationship is illegal, they kiss and share souls or whatever, they get caught by Day and Beetle, Day and Natalie break their friendship, Beetle and Ash get into a fistfight, the boat crashes, oh yeah, did I mention they were on a boat?, they come back to find that Natalie's bodyguard's heart has been ripped out
by Evangeline, Natalie tells Polly about Ash, and then we experience this nightmare.
ALL IN ONE CHAPTER
So yeah, that's just one chapter of this book.
Half the time, I didn't know what was going on, or where they were, or what everything looked like. Like legit. I was trying to pay attention but my mind kept wandering. This book did not keep me hooked like I hoped it would have.
Oh, and Ash comes back to life after being crucified... Ummm, does this remind you of any particular story? :\
Oh, and there's this drug in the book that kills people off. Yet people still take it. Is that a good lesson?
Oh, I DID like reading the romance. That was actually really well written. Actually, I also liked reading the fight scenes... which is unusual.
Then again, I still plan to read the next books. I was reading reviews and it has considerably higher ratings than this book. Oh, and I wanna know if Ash and Natalie end up together. I kind of hope they won't. Because I don't even ship it.
Anyways, I would recommend this book to YA fantasy readers, though it's better for people who are looking for a dystopian read that will be quick and short.
Main Character(s): Ash, Natalie
Sidekick(s): Beetle, Day, etc
Villain(s): Purian Rose, Sebastian, etc
Fantasy/Romance Elements: This book had fantasy characters, places, and creatures. This book featured an almost thrilling romance.
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