Masque Of The Red Death

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: April 24th 2012 by Harper Collins

ISBN:0062107798 (ISBN13: 9780062107794)

 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.

*Eyes open wide, jaw drops* 

This book was amazing! Beautiful, dark, rich and intense. When I turned the last page, I felt so many emotions, but most of all I felt the need, not want, NEED for more. 

It starts off pulling you right into the darkness of the story; the plague, and all the death and horrors that come with it. It was shocking at first. Araby reacts in the way I did in my head, but the surrounding characters feel almost emotionless.. like it's simply everyday life. I suppose that is how it might become. People would grow accustom to seeing these horrors all the time. 


Bethany Griffin is an author who doesn't write down to Teens. What I mean is; the style of writing, and the content, is intense, and real. It does not shy away from the harshness that this world would create. Drugs and death are a part of this world. It is not toned down for the sake of it being a YA novel. 


The characters were strong. I enjoyed watching Araby struggle to understand her feelings, both for the love interests in the story, and for the moral dilemmas that are thrown her way. Will and Elliot are strong in very different ways. Will the soft and sweet, Elliot the Intense and daring. Both also have strong faults. The love triangle isn't what I would call typical. It's not *Bam* Instalove for everyone. I found myself going back and forth between how I felt about both boys, much the same I think as how Araby felt. 


I liked the fact that the love interest is not the focal point of the story, and a boy is not the factor that makes Araby begin to stand up for what she believes. 


Masque Of The Red Death is a brilliant story. It will pull readers in, shock them, enrapture them, and have them begging for more! 


I anxiously await the next book, dying to know what else Bethany Griffin has up her sleeve !

Rating: 5/5

* Keep an eye out for my swag giveaway in the next month or so! I have some gorgeous bookmarks bracelets, AND an ARC to giveaway ! :D *