Black City (Black City, #1)

Black City
Elizabeth Richards
374 pages
Released: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Speak
Source: Gifted/purchased (how did I end up with two copies of this one?)
★★★★★

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

It was good-bye reading slump when I picked up Black City!  Black City had two elements of what I love most in YA literature: short chapters and a fast, action-packed pace that made the book fly by.  I was eating it up!  Black City has a little something for every YA lover: it was action packed, had paranormal beings, and of course, a heart-pumping, steamy romance.

In a post-war world filled with humans and Darklings (a vampire-like species), Natalie is the daughter of a government official and Ash is half-Darking, half-human.  No one would expect these two to be together, but when Natalie starts a new school and they meet, they're instantly attracted to each other on a deep level.  But why?  What's pulling them together?  Meanwhile, their city is still recovering from a dramatic war and the government wants to segregate Darklings from humans.

I'm a girl, so you know I have to gush about this romance for a minute.  Yes, it was insta-love reminiscent of a Twilight kind of romance, but there was something so endearing about it.  The chemistry between Natalie and Ash is palpable and they were an exciting couple to read about.  By the end of the Black City I couldn't wait to pick up the sequel to find out how their story continued.

What I really liked about Black City, beyond the exceptional romance between Natalie and Ash, were the issues Black City covered.  So much more than a fluffy teenage romance, Black City covers serious topics like racism, war, and prejudice.  As I was reading, I also found parallels to the Holocaust.  Black City really helps demonstrate to the reader how unfair prejudice is and how all people should be treated as equals.

Five stars!  As I was reading I came across similarities to Twilight, Hunger Games, and Romeo & Juliet.  It might seem contradictory, but Black City flows so well I was turning the pages late into the night.  Overall, I loved Elizabeth Richard's debut novel and since I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of its sequel, Phoenix, due out this June - I've already started reading it!  Get on this series as soon as you can, it's going to be big!