A big thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
You had me at a retelling of "The Masque of the Red Death," but lost me with the sudden intrusion of vampires.
A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford is a young adult gothic fantasy about Princess Imogen of Goslind, who has lived a sheltered life for three years at the boarded-up castle—she and the rest of its inhabitants safe from the bloody mori roja plague that’s ravaged the kingdom. But Princess Imogen has a secret, and as King Stuart descends further into madness, it’s at great risk of being revealed. Rations dwindle each day, and unhappy murmurings threaten to crack the facade of the years-long charade being played within the castle walls. Nico Mott once enjoyed a comfortable life of status, but the plague took everyone and everything from him. If not for the generosity of a nearby lord, Nico may not have survived the mori roja’s aftermath. But does owing Lord Crane his life mean he owes him his silence? When Lord Crane sends Nico to search for more plague survivors in the castle, Nico collides with a princess who wants to break out. They will each have to navigate the web of lies they’ve woven if they’re going to survive the nightmares ahead.
I really wanted to LOVE this book as it was compared to Dana Schwartz's Anatomy and The Poison Season. but it just wasn't doing it for me. This book was giving Spinning Silver vibes, but not to the extent that I wanted. But at the same time, the supposed "monsters" of this book. Was nothing than vampires that needed to be shipped back to the era of Twilight and all the other vampire-crazed books of the early 2000's YA genre.
Overall, I think this book just didn't match my expectations. Which is not the fault of Mara Rutherford. But my own.
You had me at a retelling of "The Masque of the Red Death," but lost me with the sudden intrusion of vampires.
A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford is a young adult gothic fantasy about Princess Imogen of Goslind, who has lived a sheltered life for three years at the boarded-up castle—she and the rest of its inhabitants safe from the bloody mori roja plague that’s ravaged the kingdom. But Princess Imogen has a secret, and as King Stuart descends further into madness, it’s at great risk of being revealed. Rations dwindle each day, and unhappy murmurings threaten to crack the facade of the years-long charade being played within the castle walls. Nico Mott once enjoyed a comfortable life of status, but the plague took everyone and everything from him. If not for the generosity of a nearby lord, Nico may not have survived the mori roja’s aftermath. But does owing Lord Crane his life mean he owes him his silence? When Lord Crane sends Nico to search for more plague survivors in the castle, Nico collides with a princess who wants to break out. They will each have to navigate the web of lies they’ve woven if they’re going to survive the nightmares ahead.
I really wanted to LOVE this book as it was compared to Dana Schwartz's Anatomy and The Poison Season. but it just wasn't doing it for me. This book was giving Spinning Silver vibes, but not to the extent that I wanted. But at the same time, the supposed "monsters" of this book. Was nothing than vampires that needed to be shipped back to the era of Twilight and all the other vampire-crazed books of the early 2000's YA genre.
Overall, I think this book just didn't match my expectations. Which is not the fault of Mara Rutherford. But my own.