3 stars

Masque of the Red Death is an interesting take on the dystopia/futuristic trend. It’s got all the classic elements: plague, dictator, rebellion and violence, and a haunted heroine at the middle of it all with two men vying for her love. The twist here is that the book is based on Edgar Allen Poe’s short story with the same name, and thus the story is shaped by this Gothic horror in ways that no other dystopias are. Dark and gruesome, Masque of the Red Death takes you into the bowels of humanity to look at what would happen to us if plague stole away everything that makes us who we are.

The story follows Araby, the daughter of the famous scientist who invented the masks that keep people from catching the plague. She is haunted by her dead twin brother, who was killed by the plague before their father could save him. She vows that she will never do anything that her brother never got to do, almost like a vow of chastity since he died at 12. Trying to lose her pain in the grand underworld, she goes every night with April, the niece of the tyrannical Prince Prospero, to the Debauchery Club for dancing and drugs. But at the club she meets the two men who will change her life: Will, the bouncer who has two young siblings at home that he’s struggling to keep alive; and Elliot, April’s brother and the leader of the rebellion against the Prince, his uncle. Will wants to protect her and Elliot wants to use her, and Araby isn’t sure which one she would rather side with.

Araby was an interesting character, much darker and more morose than most YA heroines. But I think some of Bethany’s choices in building Araby’s character were flawed. First, her vow to never experience anything that her brother never will is broken on the first page as Araby gets ready to go to the Debauchery Club—something that her brother certainly never got to do. She only counts the vow when it comes to anything to do with romance, which essentially makes it a crutch invented by the author to keep her heroines from instantly throwing herself into the arms of any willing man. Because the way Araby is constructed—with her pain, dependency on drugs, and guilt—makes her the kind of girl who would also love herself in the pleasures of the flesh. So this vow felt disjointed and forced, and it limited Araby’s character from fully embracing the dark depths that she could have sunk to.

The world was really fascinating; the story is set in a crumbling London (though the city is never specifically identified, so I am guessing) where the division between poor and wealthy is now defined by whether you can afford a mask to protect yourself from the plague. Corpse collectors patrol the streets, taking away the dead with no care or respect because there are too many to care. And amid all this disease and despair, several rebellions stir: Elliot’s quiet, military-focused rebellion; and the wild, violent rebellion lead by a shadowy figure only know as Reverend Malcontent, with an army made up of the abused and abandoned poor and sick. Despite the excellent world building, we didn’t get to see enough of that world. Araby explores such small portions of the city that it feels as though you are only seeing tiny snippets of this city, and I definitely wanted more. She does travel outside the city to the Prince’s castle at one point, but again we don’t get to see as much of the world as I would have liked. The book was almost crippled by its length (barely 300 pages): another 150 pages would have given it room to grow and explore.

Despite its flaw I still really enjoyed Masque of the Red Death and I am excited to see where Bethany goes with this series. It was certainly a solid first novel for a budding author.

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot’s estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret—one that could change their society … or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she’s lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Initially this cover made me think of Across the Universe, which is also very purple and pink and sort of science-fiction-y. However, that cover has a very strong romance vibe, which this one does not. The pink and purple color palette I think is meant to attract female readers, who might have been a little turned off if it had been say red or blue (though I do think the designer is underestimating girls, but oh well). This cover will certainly stand out on the shelf.

I like that it conveys some of what the story is about, without being too illustrated. The glowing chip on her back (and of course the title) tells you that this is futuristic, most likely dystopia, about a society where people have chips implanted in them. What the cover doesn’t tell you is that it’s also about kids who develop psychic powers. Now this is where they might also be pulling the pink and purple from, as a kind of homage to aura colors (but I still think its mostly about the girls).

I love the font and the spider webbing construction around the words which matches the chip on the girls back. Overall a pretty exciting cover, and one that certainly would make me want to pick up the book.

He should have been sleeping, but after countless hours of staring at the shadows above his bed, he’d finally given up and decided to come here and attempt to do something productive. He was dying for a distraction. Any distraction.

Anything to chase away the thoughts that kept rotating around in his brain.

So much for those good intentions.

Taking in a measured breath, Kai glanced up at the empty office. It was supposed to be his father’s office, but the room struck Kai as far too extravagant to be a place for work. Three ornate tasseled lanterns were lined up on a red-and-gold ceiling, hand-painted with elegant dragons. A holographic fireplace was set into the wall to his left. A sitting area with carved cypress furniture surrounded a miniature bar in the far corner. Silent videos of Kai’s mother shimmered from picture frames by the door, sometimes paired with flashes of Kai growing up, and sometimes all three of them together.

Nothing had changed since his father’s death, except the room’s owner.

And perhaps the smell. Kai seemed to recall the aroma of his father’s aftershave, but now there was the distinct stench of bleach and chemicals—remnants of the cleaning crew scrubbing the room raw after his father first had contracted letumosis, the plague that had killed hundreds of thousands of people all over Earth in the past decade.

Kai’s attention fell from the pictures and snagged on the small metal foot that sat on the corner of his desk, its joints caked with grease. Like a revolving wheel, his thoughts came full-circle yet again.

Linh Cinder.

Well if not, then you should. It’s a great futuristic retelling of Cinderella. And the best part: she’s a CYBORG. Very cool.

Want to learn more about Cinder? Check out this article about the author Marissa Meyer here to learn about her geeky background (she loves Sailor Moon) and all that went into this first book of the Lunar Chronicles series (yes there are three more to come!

Also, The Book Life is hosting a month-long celebration of Cinder. Today they have a fun video of different bloggers doing strange/funny things with their copy of the book.