Dance of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death, #2) in Sophomore Reading Challenge

Mar 12, 2013 Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday) added it

Shelves: edelweiss, series-i-ve-finished

Dance of the Red Death takes up right where the first book left off, and with little to no recap.The book offered a few memory-jogging reminders here and there, but there were definitely things I'd forgotten about the first book.

Luckily, I did remembered many of the main plot points -- a sheltered main character whose nightly clubbing with her best friend is a way to forget the death of her twin from the illness that's spreading across her city. The twins are only one of a number of pairs and do Dance of the Red Death takes up right where the first book left off, and with little to no recap.The book offered a few memory-jogging reminders here and there, but there were definitely things I'd forgotten about the first book.

Luckily, I did remembered many of the main plot points -- a sheltered main character whose nightly clubbing with her best friend is a way to forget the death of her twin from the illness that's spreading across her city. The twins are only one of a number of pairs and doubles featured in this book: there are actually two diseases, two sinister figures to contend with, and -- to some readers' dismay -- two guys. More on that later...

What was impossible to forget was the sad, spooky, ravaged story world in which this book takes place. My review of Masque of the Red Death called the book something like post-apocalyptic steampunk Gothic horror, and the description still stands. These books are studies in contrasts: love and death, beauty and horror, betrayal and sacrifice. In this city ravaged by disease, there is an elevated neighborhood inhabited by the rich, a seedily chic nightclub, a swamp, and a castle with turrets and a drawbridge. There's cool alt-technology -- hot air balloons and steam carriages -- but all the residents have to protect them from disease are masks, and only the rich can afford them.

The books also feature characters who are full of contradictions. In Masque of the Red Death, Araby is naive and a little spoiled, but also truly grieving her brother's death. As that book progressed, she learned hard truths about both her parents, was betrayed by someone she thought was trustworthy, and learned that someone close to her had caught the contagion. In Dance of the Red Death, she's sadder but wiser. She -- and a group who has escaped the city in an airship -- hope to track down a rumored vaccine for the contagion and find a way to get clean water to the masses.

Just as in the first book, much of Araby's angst is centered around her attraction to two guys -- one with a tortured past and idealistic dreams of fixing the city's ills, the other gruff but nurturing. The triangle-y aspect of this didn't bother me as much as some, because I thought I could see which way things were headed. In Dance of the Red Death, Araby is still processing a betrayal by one of the guys, and thus does kind of torture both of them by leading one on while pining for the other. Usually that kind of stuff drives me nuts, but I guess in a book filled with so much gloom and despair, this just added on more in a way that kind of worked for me.

What I did wish for was the long promised masked ball scene. Yes, it's finally there, though as part of the climactic showdown, so there wasn't as much of a focus on the ball as pure macabre spectacle as I'd hoped. The book ends with some loss and sadness -- of course -- but also on a note of hope.

All in all, I've really enjoyed this pair of books. I definitely recommend them, and can't wait to see what Bethany Griffin writes next! ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Andi (Andi's ABCs) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, kindle-archive, edelweiss

Solid 4.5

I had trouble with this one in the beginning. Not because it was a bad book or because I wasn’t interested. It was purely because I couldn’t remember what the heck happened in the first part of the series because I read it so long ago! I couldn’t for the life of me remember what happened in Masque of the Red Death and what I loved about it. But as Dance of the Red Death continued and the memories started to return I remembered my love of Will and Araby and the world Griffin created and Solid 4.5

I had trouble with this one in the beginning. Not because it was a bad book or because I wasn’t interested. It was purely because I couldn’t remember what the heck happened in the first part of the series because I read it so long ago! I couldn’t for the life of me remember what happened in Masque of the Red Death and what I loved about it. But as Dance of the Red Death continued and the memories started to return I remembered my love of Will and Araby and the world Griffin created and I found the book fantastic. It was really a great ending to a very creative series. I apologize for any spoilers from the first book but it is hard to talk about a sequel without them.

Dance of the Red Death begins right where Masque ended. Araby, Will, Elliott, April, and company have fled the city that is being demolished by disease, the people, the Reverend and the Prince and are traveling to places unknown. They just know they need to get away and need to hide. April is sick and Araby’s heart has been shattered by Will’s betrayal. With Elliott’s constant advances, April’s fast declining health and the prospect that her father is the cause of everything Araby has to make some tough decisions that bring her right to the city she is trying to flee and the two men that are trying to destroy her. Now Araby has to decide what it is she wants to fight for and what her heart can handle in the end.

I actually enjoyed Dance more then I liked Masque. I found Araby to be a stronger more compelling character in this book. She had a backbone and wasn’t as scared to live. Was she still scared of her emotions and the circumstances of her life? Definitely. But I felt like she matured in a way that allowed her to deal with them as opposed to whining about everything. She knew what she had to do to save herself, to save her friends, to save the city she loves and although she struggled at times, she did what she had to do. She was very likable in this book and that is what made the story more enjoyable. That and her “relationship” with Will.

Not gonna lie, he broke my heart in the first book with his betrayal, but I also understood why he did what he did. And I liked that Araby understood it too. The awkwardness between the two in this book because of that once incident was perfectly incorporated into the story. With that said, the emotions that were between them were also extremely present and I could feel Will’s jealousy every time he saw Araby anywhere near Elliott and that was all kinds of awesome. They had to have had one of the most real relationships in the book by far and it added to the story opposed to taking away from everything that was going on around them.

Basically I found the distribution of the relationship aspects and the war that was going on in the cities laid out pretty evenly. Dance wasn’t too heavy on either aspect and everything flowed nicely thanks to Griffin’s talent of weaving a great story. I was really happy with how everything came to a head and even happier with the conclusion. Really great ending to a brief two part series. I look forward to reading more from this very talented author in the future.
...more

Like · see review