Black City (Black City Chronicles, Book 1) [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Richards (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 13, 2012 | Series: Black City Chronicles (Book 1)

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-Tapping into many popular tropes, Black City tells a story, in alternating narratives, of a pair of star-crossed youths from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum set against a dystopian backdrop. Ash is a twin-blood-part vampiric Darkling and part human-living on the fringe while his Darkling family is forced to live in an enclosed ghetto, segregated from the human population. Natalie is a pampered but compassionate young woman, daughter of a highly positioned government official, with whom Ash feels a baffling but undeniable connection after a random post-curfew encounter. When the two later meet at school, circumstances throw them together and their attraction, though illegal, grows. As they begin to understand each other, their heavily militarized world begins to crumble and their actions reflect a new perspective. While this exploration may enchant some readers, many secondary characters remain one-dimensional, and their actions compulsory. Strong world-building is undermined by verbosity and banal expressions ("Just because your heart doesn't beat doesn't mean you're not alive"). Overall, Black City is a lackluster addition to the oversaturated field, but insatiable fans of saccharine paranormal romances or gritty dystopian novels will devour it greedily as it provides a balanced combination of romance, action, and fantasy.-Nicole Politi, The Ocean County Library, Lavallette, NJα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"Detailed postapocalyptic world building makes Richards' series debut intriguing."--Booklist

"Provides a balanced combination of romance, action. and fantasy."--SLJ

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (November 13, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399159436
• ISBN-13: 978-0399159435
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Richards is an award-winning journalist who spent her early career reviewing video games for a living before making the bold (or crazy) move to become a travel writer and editor, specializing in cruise holidays, despite suffering from terrible sea sickness.

In her spare time Elizabeth ran a successful lifestyle website aimed at teenage girls, where she got to interview many of her favorite bands, go to gigs and basically bag loads of free swag all in the name of "research".

More recently she worked as a website editor before deciding to pursue her dream of becoming an author. She now dedicates her time to writing fantasy books aimed at young adults. BLACK CITY is her debut novel.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Imaginative and Unique Dystopian Novel! November 14, 2012

By Stephanie Ward

Format:Hardcover

'Black City' is the first book in a new young adult dystopian series. It follows main characters Ash Fisher, a Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, the Emissary's daughter. It's told from alternating points of view - going between Natalie and Ash. I thought that the book was a really interesting dystopian work - the setting and the history of the story were well described and detailed, which I thought was highly intriguing and I loved learning about everything. It's apparent almost right away that these two characters are going to fall in love - it's a sort of star-crossed lovers theme. They come from completely different worlds - are actually different races - and yet they are drawn together by something much larger than themselves.

Along with the dystopian setting and the problems that it provides for the characters, there is also an exciting twist with the added conspiracy that Ash and Natalie uncover. This adds lots of twists and adventure into the story, which I felt added depth. I liked the characters in the book, especially Natalie and Ash. We get to see things from both of their perspectives, and I enjoyed seeing how each one reacted to various situations and to each other. The writing was superb and fast-paced, which made this a book I couldn't put down. There is a lot of tension and unanswered questions in the novel, which leaves great opening for future installments in the series. Overall, this is a fantastic first book to an imaginative and unique series that will be sure to leave readers demanding more.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Turns vampire and dystopian love stories on its head-- Richards is an author to watch! November 19, 2012

By Christina (Ensconced in YA) TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have had several people approach me and say that this was one of the best ARCs they had read all year. So this has been high on my radar.

Black City by Elizabeth Richards may seem like an amalgam of familiar territory. We have vampires. We have a dystopian society. We have lovers on two different sides of a war. Sure, we start with the expected, and then Richards completely turns everything on its head. All I will say is that we have alternating perspectives of Natalie, the daughter of an Emissary, who is trying to keep Darklings segregated from Black City, and Ash, a Darkling, who sells Haze, a drug, to keep his family fed. These two unlikely kids seem to have a Romeo and Juliet kind of romance and then everything goes out the window.

You must read this book. That's all I'm going to say. I don't want to give away any of the marvelous twists this book reveals, and I read the book from cover to cover in a day. The characters are terrific, and I love the dark setting of Black City. This isn't a perfect book, but it is an extremely compelling one. I know Richards is only going to get better and better with each installment.

Overall, one of the most intriguing and pulse pounding dystopian books I've read this year.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of My New Favorites!!! November 13, 2012

By Step Into Fiction

Format:Hardcover

This was definitely one of those books at BEA that everyone wanted. I am so glad I was able to get one because this book was just amazing. It made me cry. A book hasn't made me cry for awhile so it was refreshing. Sadly refreshing. If an author is able to make you cry it means they did their job with their characters. You've become attached and you can't imagine the worst happening but it is. Amazing.

Ash Fisher, he's different than every single person inside Black City. He's a twin-blood and you're probably wondering what that is? He's half human and half Darkling. The best way to describe a Darkling is they're kind of a like a vampire. The sun burns their skins, their hearts don't beat (actually, they have two hearts), they're pale, they have fangs (which have venom that gives humans a high), and survive off of blood. There are different breeds of darklings, though. Some have wings which kind of remind me of like a mix of a vampire and fae, which is kind of awesome. He's not liked because he's different and to everyone, he's the enemy. He's broody and has a hard outter layer but you peel that away, and he's certainly not the monster people make him out to be.

Natalie Buchanan is a human and daughter of the Emissary. Though Natalie is the daughter of the Emissary, she is a very damaged, normal teenage girl. Minus the fact that he ex-boyfriend is her personal bodyguard. She witnessed her beautiful sister to get beaten just so the government could get information out of her father. After they got what they wanted, they let a darkling have at him. In front of Natalie. It's forever scarred her and made her afraid of darklings. But something very strange happens when she meets half-blood darkling, Ash...her world is turned upside down.

I absolutely loved this book. I love Ash, like I want him for myself, darkling and all. He is amazing. He's so dark, mysterious, addicting and yet so warm, caring and loving. He is like a drug, which is ironic since that is what he used for a lot inside Black City. The venom in his fangs give humans a high so he's like a drug dealer in a sense. He is like the venom in his system. It's like every page, he's biting the reader - making them fall more and more addicting to him. Read this book and tell me you don't feel the same way.

Not only do I love him but I love all of his relationships. All of them. Natalie, his father, his best friend, his darkling family, every single one of them. I am just so excited to see more but please, please don't make me cry again. I cried such an ugly cry at the end of Black City. Like one of those cries I was thankful I was alone because it was that ugly. I have not cried like that over a book in a VERY long time. So kudos to Elizabeth Richards because I know it's what authors strive to do. You were successful but please, no more ugly cries! ;)

Read this book.

Reviewed by Jessica @Step Into Fiction