**REVIEW** Black City by Elizabeth Richards

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.

Expected Release: Nov. 13, 2012

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons BYR

Review Copy: ARC, 384 pages
*received from publisher*

Trailer

Okay so this isn't just a Black City trailer but the Breathless Reads

one.  I know *sigh* but the 2 seconds of Ash & Natalie made me 

smile! 

Review

  Guys I loved this book!  Despite a few minor frustrations I am completely and utterly in love.  How do you love something that frustrated you?  Read this book and find out seriously.  I will do my best to do it justice in the review to follow but just remember: I LOVED IT!

  This one was so much more than I could have hoped for.  I was drawn in by the riveting description and attractive cover but what was between the cover is what not only kept my interest but had me obsessing over what was going on.  Every time I put the book down I found my mind wondering back to what I had last read.  If I didn't have to put it down I wouldn't have, not even for a minute.   The world was vivid and dark, while the characters stood out and became more than a character on a page!  There are Darklings and humans but they are kept apart by a wall.  Being with the opposite race gets you labeled a race traitor and means death.  This leads to some serious intensity and emotional scenes.

  Natalie is basically a spoiled upper class girl when you meet her but there is so much more to her than that.  She has felt loss due to the ongoing fight to keep the Darklings apart from the humans.  Not only loss but betrayal, this is something I simply observed.  More than all of that I enjoyed Natalie because she was emotionally strong.  Once she said she would do something she would and he cared bout those that she was around.  When her eyes are opened to something she never believed to be possible or true her life is turned upside down.  This only strengthens her in my eyes as she truly becomes what I had hoped.  Basically Natalie ended up being a YA chick that I seriously loved and appreciated her flaws.

  Ash...  Well he totally does the dark and brooding thing well.  Though I get his issue.  Picked apart and picked on because he is a halfling.  To make a long story short he is different therefor he has no rights.   Well I guess that's harsh he has rights just not like everyone else and when it comes to how people treat him, well it's not great.  He does have a very different side from what I expected though.  I would be lying if I told you that I didn't figure it would be Natalie to change his attitude but he was a sweet and caring person all on his own.  He just hides it super well I think because it can be seen as a weakness.  His snark is awesome but when it came down to it he gave me more than enough "aww" moments.

  Well lets just take those two and throw them together shall we?   What you get is an overly awkward and snark filled encounters.  Though neither one could deny that there was attraction when you belong to two separate worlds it's not as easy as saying "I love you".   This factor also led to a more developed and easy to  appreciate relationship.  Well for the most part, there is a little secret that I can't share with you that these two share that kind of pulls them closer all of a sudden.  So ya...  I really wish I could share because it is totally sweet but in the end it would spoil a lot of stuff for you.  Not to mention it is also the very thing that could tear them apart and trust me it threatened to and I thought it might.  Truth be told it still could! However all of that aside I loved this relationship and the romance that was a result.

  There were a few twists that I didn't expect but there was also two larger ones that had me yelling at the book.  I practically was in tears with the one.  Not because it was sad but because the characters themselves didn't see it coming.  Despite this the book was filled with moments and characters that I loved.  There was action, romance and twists that give every chapter a little something and make you want to turn the pages that much faster.  I will without a doubt be one of the first people picking the next one up when it releases!! 

 Quotes

I thought her type were all home schooled, forbidden to mingle with us common people.  So what is she doing here?  And what's she doing with my coat, the thieving bitch?

My breath catches in my throat at her forbidden touch.  What's she doing?  If they catch her doing this to me...

I know we're playing a dangerous game.  If we're caught, we'll be executed just like Tom and Jana.  Is it worth the risk?  Ash strokes my cheek, and my whole body tingles, awakened, alive.Yes.