This story is billed as a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel, but it certainly isn't by the numbers. In short order, elements of science fiction and horror are blended in, which create an interesting mix. At first I was skeptical about how all this was going to work, but somehow it did, and I really enjoyed the novel. I did wish for a bit more backstory, but I'm sure that will be revealed in a subsequent novel. There was some awkward sentence structure and phrasing throughout, which might be due to English being a second language, but some additional proofreading would fix that, and overall I found the writing style to be engaging and easy to follow. Some colorful characters as well in this story. It was a page-turner, and I can't say that about too many of the books I've read. I would definitely read the sequel.

I was provided an eARC from Netgalley, and boy, was I glad I asked for this one.

This is NA. I don't trust NA since the content can be over the top, but also romance, and I don't like romance. This book was perfectly balanced. Brutal beyond words with hints of romance of all kinds. <b>This book is for fans of Fallout, Underworld, and Terminator.</b> Brutal dystopian world with raiders and few supplies, cyborgs, vampires, and demons. What else could you ask for.

That's an odd mix, I won't deny, but Mocikat makes it fit together seemlessly. The worldbuilding is gradual in terms of explaining The Glitch, and it's never fully explained, which I kinda like. Colton knows nothing about what was going on, and he was the perfect person to have pages of info-dumping for, but at most it was a paragraph or two here or there of info given to him. It never felt overwhelming or boring as it was quick, bite-sized chunks that slowly formed a cohesive backstory for this Earth.

The characters aren't the most complex, but they were fleshed out well and evolved through the story. Colton was especially interesting to watch, as was Vincent. Eurydice was more than a cliche villain, and the vampire lore was super cool.

I'm assuming this is to be a series, and I'm eagerly anticipating a sequel.

Shadow City is a post- apocalyptic, urban fantasy novel that’s set in Hollywood thirty years after the events known as The Glitch. After 30 something years no one can definitively say what cause the end of human civilization, but as most humans are falling victim to radiation sickness, it’s suspected to be a nuclear disaster of some kind.

After perusing Netgalley and coming across the awesome cover, I was fairly excited to read this story. Unfortunately I’ve had to put it down a little bit before halfway into the story, because it really just wasn’t for me. I’m not quite sure how I feel about such a vague post-apocalyptic world. It’s insinuated more than once that the catastrophic event that caused The Glitch came out of the blue. Half of the fun of apocalyptic stories to me is the uniqueness of the world and this story is really lacking in that for me.

I was also really conflicted about the amount of other species that co-exist with humans in this world. In addition to humans this book has vampires. mutants, cyborgs AND other beings that have made their way through dimensional rifts which opened up after The Glitch caused tectonic plates to move. Vampires have apparently always existed, but it was only until after The Glitch they made themselves known to humans. Okay? Why? What about the Cyborgs? The blurb only mentions mutated creatures and given how The Glitch came to be I think it makes relative sense. I was really unprepared for the plethora of species here. All of these creatures existing in this world doesn’t help make it unique for me, it’s just confusing me even more because of the lack of reasoning and need for all of them to co-exist in this world.

Okay lets just go over all the characters here because that's something I had a problem with too:

➽ Jean: Scavenger and was raised in the era of The Glitch.

➽ Colton: Found by Jean, nameless and with no memory.

➽ Eric: Cop from Los Angeles who was turned a few months before The Glitch. Now he’s a vampire working in the Human Force (new police force kind of) and lives amongst surviving humans.

➽ Bombshell: Eric’s partner and also a cyborg also working for the Human Force.

➽ Vincent: Gets killed by a vampire on the job and resurrects, but not whole or quite the same.

➽ Eurydice: Rogue vampire in Downtown LA and is an envoy for the Overlord.

➽ Hector: Raid leader in LA, planning to make a deal with the Overlord and corrupt the peace amongst remaining civilians.

Personally I felt there were way too many point of views and I just felt frustrated by constantly rotating around povs. I can’t quite see the need for so many either. It feels like the author is really cramming so much in this story. The blurb only really alludes to Jean being a protagonist and honestly, a story about a girl growing up in a post-apocalyptic world sounded like something I wanted to read. However I couldn’t really see the direction this story was taking and it really feels overwhelmed by all that it’s trying to do.

Well written and well paced, engaging characters in a dystopian world .. yes, conventional motifs of this horror genre of mutants vs humans with really new idea of effective new 'breed's, AI/ cyborg character who is really cool, kick ass .. and they prevail . Energetic and light, really enjoyable in this world.

dow City is the kind of book I know will stick with me for a while. Everything about it was really unique and well thought. I really do love post-apocalyptic novels so this one was easy to get into. But what you don't know is that it is no ordinary book about the end of the world.
Shadow City takes place in what used to be Hollywood. The few survivors created the Zone, which is like a closed camp to protect its citizens. The Zone is made up of humans and vampires, they created an alliance to co-exist, humans give their blood to the blood bank, and in exchange vampires keep the humans safe. Outside of the Zone, it is really dangerous because you can find rogue vampires, violent gangs made of humans that did not want to join the Zone and something really dark nobody wants to talk about.
I won't go into more details to keep this spoiler-free but I really enjoyed the mix between post-apocalyptic and fantasy here. I loved how the author explained how vampires have always existed and how they started to co-exist with humans, everything was well thought and pretty clever! I love the different relationships in this book (friendship, romance...) I think every single one of them was well constructed and enjoyable.
If I had to complain about something, I might say that I was not always a huge fan of the writing style. For example when one character kept repeating "what a shithole" like a million times, it started to annoy me. But this is really a minor detail. Also, the romance was a bit of an insta-love and it was too fast in my opinion.
In brief, if you love vampires and people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world with great friendships that will give you faith in humanity, this book is for you. And I am really looking forward to reading what's next because this book left me with so many questions and hypothesis that I want to verify!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for a copy of the ARC for my honest review.

The novel was very interesting I just think it was not for me. The charters was introduced way to fast and I had trouble following who was who. The author Anna did write a believable world. If your into Syfy you will probably enjoy the book.

It's not a bad book at all and there were amazing aspects to it. It definitely gets better as the book goes on, but there are just some things that didn't work for me. I feel the characters were all introduced way too quickly. It took me a couple of chapters to get the hang of who was who, what side who was on etc. As someone with a qualification in writing, I was taught to try not to use the word 'suddenly' but there were many chapters in which this word was used an awful lot. Also, the last battle I felt ended way too easily. Both sides of the battle were so strong and within what felt like moments, there was a simple act and the whole thing was over. So those aspects are what didn't work for me, BUT there are definitely some very relatable characters in the story and to be honest, those characters are what kept me going through the story once I got the hang of who was who. I'm very, very drawn to Eurydice.

Shadow City reads as the perfect combination of a dystopian future, cyberpunk and fantasy creatures. The plot is strong, as are the characters. I was reading this book, looking forward to learning more about both the characters and the new state the world was in all the time.

This one was a page turner. So much going on and the story was fast paced. There were many characters and they had their own side story going on at the same time. Jean and Louis - sister/brother, Colton - unknown, Eric - vampire, Bombshell - cyborg, and Vincent - well you have to read the book to see what he is. I was really surprised by how quickly the read went and disappointed when it did end. Need more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.. A post apocalyptic thriller. Filled with zombies, Satan, disease an food shortage. Who are allies and who has a hidden agenda? There is a lot going on an hard to keep straight. The action is non-stop.

This book was intense and spell binding. The setting of the story was shockingly creative and the world Mocikat created was so wickedly dark and wonderful. I enjoyed this book immensely and the characters felt real and full of life in the best of ways!

DNF @ 5%

The writing style and I just really don't get along. The overabundance of commas and adjectives (and casual ableist language) keep throwing me off: I don't know what a "pubertal" / "adolescent" boy's voice is supposed to sound like, but it's certainly not complimentary; I also really can't take an action scene seriously when a combatant is described as "progressing" toward his opponent.

I also find myself actively disinterested in the characters — so far they seem more like plot devices than individuals with agency, which I know works for some people but not for me.

Shadow City is a future, ruined and decayed Los Angeles, cut off from the rest of the world by a global catastrophe referred to as the Glitch. The radiation from this produces mutants from a shadowy Beyond; however this is more a dark fantasy tale than SF, as the Glitch seems to have disrupted the equilibrium between dimensions too, as there is a region within the old city where Lovecraftian Dark Ones also emerge, to seek World Domination.
It is up to an imperilled community, of a small group of mismatched heroes, who must do battle against a little-understood foe. Cyborg Bombshell and her ex-cop vampire ally Eric join forces with a human who may not may not be something more. Then there is Vincent who may now be something more, but who now dallies with a rogue vampire who may be threat to the whole community.
The writer professes to be planning a trilogy, so the future and destiny of many of her characters is by no means resolved at the end of this novel.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, with an interesting take on vampires, who are not portrayed as the bad guys here, although the human community does not unilaterally accept them. This novel should come as a treat for those who enjoy the kind of fantasy tales that is reminiscent of gaming app worlds of alternative post- apocalyptic worlds.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read Shadow City in exchange for an honest review.

This story happens in apocalyptic world and after the Glitch. No one knows what caused it and world is so much different than it used to be. Some are still thinking about the world before the Glitch but most of them is trying to live in this new reality as best as they can. This was interesting world and I really liked to read it.

There were some key characters that we followed. First we met siblings Jean and Louise doing their job outside of the Zone. When they were going home they met a man who didn't remember his name or anything else. They named him Colton and they took him home with them. I'm really curious about Colton and his background. Begin of the book we meet also Eric, Bombshell and Vincent. I really liked Eric and Bombshell a lot but I'm wondering about Vincent. Can't wait for next book.

This one is definetly a dark dystopian but still a great read for anyone looking for a new author in the genre.  I definetly would like to read the next one in the series since the writing is great but this had a lot of world building in it.

Los Angeles is an apocalyptic wasteland. The few survivors of a horrific catastrophe live under the constant threat of radiation, mutated creatures, and worse... lurking in the shadows. In the ruins of the deserted city, the scavengers Jean and Louis come across a nameless stranger and bring him to the only safe zone, once known as Hollywood. What’s left of society is divided among different factions; mistrust, brute force, and anarchy rule every day’s life. If the struggle for survival wasn’t bad enough, the nuclear disaster has shifted realities as we knew them and brought something into our world which threatens to exterminate the human race. Something so dark, that every living being is horrified of it. Something that feeds on suffering and violence. But humans aren’t alone in this existential fight. Unexpected allies emerge from the shadows and in the final stand, the nameless stranger will decide humanities fate.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley. I was excited to read a creepy paranormal apocalyptic around Halloween. Plus, the concept of this book sounded genuine unique and fun. I was really looking forward to jumping in.

The setting of this book did not disappoint. Having visited Los Angeles earlier this year, I enjoyed recognizing scenes from places I’d seen. The apocalyptic twist on the city worked out well and I enjoyed exploring the world and how it got to its current point. It feels like the author put a lot of time and thought into developing her world and fleshing out the details, which I appreciated.

The characters in this book were interesting. There was an exceptionally large cast for a book of this length, but each character is unique and engaging. Each character had a well fleshed out back story and was dealing with their own obstacles,. The point of view switched often between characters, each character had multiple scenes from their own perspective, which was a unique thing to see in a Young Adult novel. But it also made it very difficult to feel completely connected to any character. By the end of the book, I wasn’t quite sure who the main character was.

I struggled with the plot in this novel. The book was fairly short, so it was quick paced and had interesting twists. However, for a book as short as this, there was too much going on in the story. New plot lines were regularly added in, making an already complicated story more complex. I did appreciate how everything came together at the end, but didn’t feel like I was able to full explore each character and their development because of how quickly the story went.

Shadow City is a quick read, that you can probably get through on long weekend vacation or on the plane there and back. The world is well developed and engaging. The characters were complex but since the perspective shifted so much, I wasn’t able to connect to any specific character. The plot was quick paced but had too much going on for a book of this length.

Shadow City was given to me by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Shadow City was EPIC! I honestly did not expect to like it so much. It is filled with so much action and world building. The writing by this author made it easy to follow the storyline. It has so much, but I was able to follow throughout and it fas paced. It is definitely part of a dark, grueling science fiction series.

The story is set during a post- apocalyptic Los Angeles world, after a supposed so called Glitch. It follows different characters, each with different characteristics. Let me say this, there are VAMPIRES involved and DEMONS!!! Like what?!? My inner vampire-loving self was completely shocked and excited! There’s also a cyborg badass named Bombshell (favorite character). There are other two characters who are very important to the plot, but as what they really are is a complete mystery. I can’t wait to find out what they are! There’s a bit of romance but not enough that it takes away from the plot (which I appreciate).

It is honestly a thrilling story and I’m giving it 5 stars! I could not put it down and even I after finished it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read Shadow City in exchange for an honest review.

Shadow City is a tour de force. Once I picked it up, I didn’t stop reading. It has dynamic characters who will make you laugh, and hold your breath as they face impossible situations. I can’t wait to see where this series leads.

It is an interesting novel featuring uniqe dystopian setting. Though an action takes place in city known for everyone, it isn't a city we used to know, because in the world after nuclear catastrophe eveyrthing's different. I think that mixing dystopian fiction with vampires and other fantasy creatures was a really good idea. And I'd probably loved this book a lot more, if not for a characters. I just couldn't connect to them and I thought it a little naive to trust a stranger who appears naked on a roof in a reality like that.

Part supernatural horror, part post-apocalyptic novel, Shadow City follows four people as they try to survive the various dangers and pitfalls of an unrecognizable Los Angeles. With fast pacing, this novel manages to balance world building and character development to immerse the reader in the vibrant universe. With a cliff hanger that leaves you wanting the next book in the series, Shadow City is a must read for fans of post-apocalyptic novels with a supernatural twist!

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.