Review of Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. 

And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them. 

So what does Araby Worth have to live for? Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up... and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club - in the depths of her own despair - Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does. And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her. 

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An amazingly unique storyline, Masque of the Red Death had me hooked from the start to the end. The world that Bethany Griffin has managed to create from Poe's story is incredible and the characters just as dark as their storyline. It has a heavy Dystopian element with undertones of Steampunk too, you see quite a few Steampunk objects throughout the story, which were amazingly described.

Araby, our tragic heroine, is a perfect fit. I haven't read much of Poe's work but I get the feeling that she isn't too different from his own characters. She's so traumatised by the death of her twin brother that April finds her at the top of a tower one day and takes her under her wing. They then spend their days at the Debauchery Club taking drugs and flirting with men, until the day that Araby meets Will - and then Elliot. Ladies, we've got ourselves a love triangle. A great one however, as Will and Elliot couldn't be more different. Will spends his days in the poorer district, looking after his little brother and sister who never leave the house and Elliot has fancy bedrooms and wants to start a revolution. As you do.

The story wraps up really well and although it leaves it on a bit of a cliffhanger it wasn't the sort of cliffhanger that makes me rage at the author, the editor, the publishing industry and God, it was one that made me look forward to the second book and I know that I'll be buying it. Definitely worth the read.

5/5

Received free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

Comments

  1. Great review Vickie! I think you enjoyed it a bit more than I did, but I did become invested in the characters enough to see it through to the end. Great observation about the dystopian/steampunk angle. I saw that too, but didn't know how to phrase it! Thanks for stopping by Edifying and Edgy!

    Julie(edifying)

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  2. Anonymous4:19 pm BST

    I started this book last night and am almost done with it. It has been sitting on my shelf for a few months now. I loved the cover but just didn't think I would like the story until I saw a few reviews. So I picked it up last night and couldn't stop reading it!
    Great review!!!!

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  3. I have yet to read this, I am a bit leery of Steampunk. I agreed once to review a Steampunk for an author and felt so bad it was a DNF.
    The book and story were good enough, I just didn't gel with it.
    I LOVE all things Dystopian however, so I think your review convinced me to toss this on the soon to read TBR pile.
    New to your blog, very nice layout and colors.
    I like your stop blog plagiarism badge. Gonna check out another review or two and hit the road.
    Have a gr8 day <3
    Books and Beyond

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  4. It's more Dystopian than Steampunk and there's just elements of Steampunk, little things like carriages etc!

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  5. I'm not usually much for steampunk novels, but I've heard a lot of good things about this one and I looove dystopia. And a 5/5 is definitely good to hear. I'll have to check this one out! Thanks for the review! :)

    P.S. I'm a new follower here. Nice to meet you! *waves*

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  6. Excellent! Thanks for taking the time to post this.

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  7. As I read this book, I found myself more and more sad because the story was so overwhelmingly bleak. While I thought I loved dark Poe stories, I think I prefer a more light-hearted read.

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