{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: Phoenix - Elizabeth Richards

Welcome to my second stop for the Phoenix PH blog tour! My first stop featured Dacian temptress, Giselle Lambert. You can follow the rest of the tour here.

Title: Phoenix (Black City #2)

Author: Elizabeth Richards

Release Date: June 4th 2013

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Source: ARC borrowed from Precious at Fragments of Life (Thanks again! <3)

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Ash and Natalie are just starting to build a life together when things in the United Sentry States go from bad to worse. Ash and Natalie find themselves at the center of turmoil when dictator Purian Rose threatens Natalie’s life unless Ash votes in favor of Rose’s Law—a law that will send Darklings and other dissenters to a deadly concentration camp known as the Tenth.

When Ash can’t bring himself to trade Natalie’s life for those of millions of Darklings, her fate is sealed. Enter Elijah Theroux, the handsome Bastet boy Natalie once saved from her mother’s labs, where he’d been experimented on and tortured. It was his venom the Sentry used to create the lethal Golden Haze, the heart of the government conspiracy that led to Black City’s uprising and Ash’s rebirth as the Phoenix, the face of the rebellion. Elijah is back and Ash doesn’t like him; it’s clear he’s taken with Natalie, and Ash fears she may have feelings for him as well.

But Elijah also may have the answer to taking down Purian Rose for good—a powerful weapon called the Ora. Ash, Natalie and Elijah just have to escape Black City undetected to find it. But fleeing the city and finding this weapon (if it even exists) are easier said than done, and the quest could tear Ash and Natalie apart, even pushing them into the arms of others.

This enthralling sequel to Black City is just as absorbing, delicious and steamy as the first book, leaving readers hungry for the series conclusion.

Phoenix picks up a few weeks/months (I'm not sure because I flew through those details, lol) after the events in Black City, and immediately there was action and suspense. Purian Rose has threatened Natalie's life if Ash doesn't vote in favor of Rose's Law, but if he does, he would fail the same rebellion that he is the face of.

This sequel was 368 pages of adventure, as Ash and Natalie worked with the rebellion while trying to keep themselves out of Purian Rose's hands. With their lives at stake, they only found solace in each other's arms, and even that love was tested, revealing just how much these characters have grown. 

Natalie has developed into a strong and practical person, always thinking of the greater good rather than herself, and I just really loved—and pitied—her. Ash, on the other hand, started out really well, and I thought his death and resurrection had made him mature even more. Well, no. He soon, although only in bouts, reverted back into his testosterone-induced self. To his defense, Natalie also had some faults, but I hold him responsible for his actions.

Here in Phoenix, we reunite with and bid farewell to a lot of old characters while meeting new ones. Ash and Natalie's mission to save everyone from Purian Rose's greed for power brought them outside Black City, and we finally got to see so much more of their colorful world as their every step left flames behind.

More eventful than Black City—and that one was already brimming with happenings—Phoenix was also full of surprises and revelations; there was at least one of them in every chapter, so my eyes were just glued to the pages. This book tired me out, in a good way, because I felt like I was running for my life alongside Ash and Natalie. It was shocking until the end, but it left me feeling like nothing was resolved. Still, you don't know how desperate I am for the third book! 2014, please come sooner.

MY FAVORITE PART was Nat's birthday.

RATING:

About the author:

Elizabeth Richards is an award-winning journalist, who spent her early career reviewing videogames before making the bold (or crazy) move into travel writing, despite suffering from terrible travel sickness.

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

Elizabeth lives in Buckinghamshire, England, with her husband. Black City is her debut novel.

Fun facts:

- She's an identical twin. (No, they don’t have psychic powers, and yes she is the evil one.)

- She's a little bit in love with Daniel Radcliffe.

- Her favourite book of all time is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

- Her second favourite book is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

- Her third favourite is Harry…oh, you get the idea.

- Her ambition is to see 10 volcanoes before she dies. She's already seen Stromboli, Vesuvius and Mt Etna. Just 7 more to go!

Giveaway!

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