Welcome to Litsy!

I like Mara Rutherford‘s writing style. This did not grab my attention quite as much as Poison Season, but I still enjoyed it. I also like that it‘s a standalone fantasy book. I don‘t always want to read a series!

A reimagining of Edger Allen Poe‘s The Masque of the Red Death, and being a fan of E.A. Poe, I was excited to read this. There were some times that the narration dragged. The ending was fast-paced, it just took a lot to get there. I did enjoy Seraphina; she is a tough girl that has to face a lot of hate and obstacles. I feel like there is a phenomenal story idea here, but it all fell on its face when the concept of vampires was introduced.

Want to read this one for #scarathlon - my pick for black #scarathlonphotochallenge @Bookwormjillk

Read this month so far

Favorite was A Multitude of Dreams

Part 5

Part 4

Part 3

Part 2

Part 1

I loved it my favorite read of this year

Not the best book I‘ve ever read, not the worst either. The biggest failing with the book is that it simply tries to do too much & it never successfully interweaves its disparate pieces into a single, cohesive narrative. There‘s a girl masquerading as someone she‘s not, a boy doing the same, a plague, a mad king, vampires & finally, & least successfully, a storyline about being Jewish in this fantasy world. Unrealized potential in this YA gothic.

Going with an ARC of a YA gothic fantasy for my next read. I don‘t usually like books published by Inkyard Press. I generally think they are poorly edited which distracts from the story but this one sounds intriguing so I‘m hopeful it will be an entertaining story.