Lisa Reviews: Elizabeth Richards -"Phoenix"
Phoenix by Elizabeth Richards was on the top of my TBR pile. After completely falling head over heels for Black City, the first book, I just couldn’t wait to read the second instalment.
Black City was one of those books that made me wish I could jump in between the pages and become part of the story! The story itself was action packed, the cast of characters were interesting and partially “inhuman”, and the ending was mind blowing, leaving my brain as mush!
With all of these fantastic qualities, I couldn’t go one day without starting Phoenix. But just like any other amazing first segment, I was wary of middle book syndrome; a disease that occurs when the first instalment of a series is mind blowing, jaw-dropping, and nothing less than perfect, but sadly the second book doesn’t contain the same level of awesomeness, causing it to simply be a stepping stone to the next book.
Phoenix takes places almost exactly where Black City ends off. Natalie and her sister are now living with Day and her family. It’s Natalie’s birthday and Ash has the perfect gift for her; an engagement ring! Is that not the BEST way to start off a book??
But things aren’t going as well as planned when Ash is stopped and asked to step into a carriage, where he finds himself sitting across from Purian Rose. Purian Rose threatens him and Ash is unsure of what to do. Should he vote for the rebellion and risk losing Natalie? Or should he vote for Purian Rose, against all the people that have supported him, to save Natalie?
I usually like to go into a more detail summary, but Phoenix starts off real quickly and doesn’t take any time at all to throw the reader back into Ash and Natalie’s world and the adventure. I don’t want to give too much away, so I think my summary will have to end there! You’re going to have to read the book yourself to see what else happens, and who Ash decides to vote for!!
One of my favourite things about this story is the amazing set of characters. I loved each and every one of them in Black City, and couldn’t wait to see them change, shift and develop when the going got tough. I couldn’t get enough of Natalie and Ash together, and had high hopes to continue that in the second book. While I still enjoyed reading about each character individually, I loved the two of them together.
Unlike in the first book, there were one or two small things that did bother me this time around. Whether they were wearing thick winter coats or were stuck in the middle of a desert, Natalie still wanted to always cuddle and be close to Ash. If he wasn’t always holding her hand, or right by her side, she assumed that he was mad, or upset with her. Natalie was just a bit more … clingy in Phoenix than she was in Black City.
Phoenix had an explosive and unexpected ending!! After being kidnapped and dragged into an air-plane, Natalie is sacred and confused. But when she finally gets the chance to calm down, and see who pulled her into this aircraft, she can’t believe her eyes! Someone who I would have never expected came along and did the unthinkable!
Phoenix was everything I wanted and so much more, it was action-packed, filled with love, and an amazing group of characters. The beginning was enticing, the middle was heart-wrenching and the ending was unbelievable! Elizabeth Richards did it once again, and I can’t wait to see what she throws at her readers in the third book!
