Book Review for Black and White by Nick Wilford
Black and White, by Nick Wilford, is a light-hearted dystopian about fighting for what’s right and not just following the crowd.
Whitopolis is a wealthy society where Wellesbury lives out every parent’s dream; he’s respectful, maintains good grades, and is a great athlete. When word gets out that a “demon” has infiltrated to Whitopolis, covered in demonic substances like “dirt” and “mud”, out of curiosity, Wellesbury visits him. But when he does, he is introduced to an apocalyptic world called Fusterberry, where the populace is ravaged by disease and decay. Joined by his friend Ezmerelda, he decides to expose this world to Whitopolis, all the while endeavoring to see the two worlds for what they truly are, and not just what everyone else thinks they may be.
Wellesbury is a lot more innocent than other characters I’ve come to know. But through this, he does show incredibly strong morals, even if he is a bit naive at times. He also has a good heart, and is willing to put his life at risk to help out strangers he barely even knows, which, fortunately, turns out well for him. Ezmerelda, meanwhile is very fearless, so much so she’s partly the reason why he’s discovering this new world to begin with. But despite this amusing contrast, the characters are typical, one-dimensional heroes. I didn’t see a lot of character development, and their actions were predictable. I would’ve loved to see more of Mallinger, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Still, the themes were well-executed. I could practically see our world through Whitopolis and Fusterberry. Whitopolis was disturbing to say the least; the populace act like lambs to the slaughter, blinded by pride and obedience to really understand what was going on. On the other hand, Fusterberry is filled with people who are trying to live another day. There’s also something to be said about the elitism in the government. It reminds me of an bible verse I once read, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
This dystopian isn’t nearly as dark as I’m used to. The heroes were one-dimensional, and there were other characters I would’ve loved to read about. Still, their overall characterization wasn’t that bad. The world itself was incredibly interesting, even if a bit silly at times. Thus, I would give this book a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, and would recommend it to those who enjoy Robin Hood and The Lesser of Evils by Daniel Settanni .
