Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
It’s not that long ago that I read the first book, The Masque of the Red Death. Normally I’m not into dystopic, post-apocalyptic books, but this is primarily fantasy. The world is similar to our late 19th century, early 20th century world and might actually be meant to be our world, though I’d say the differences hint at another world.
A plague is spreading, and civilisation is crumbling. There’s even talk about a new, worse contagion spreading. Between the different faction, the spread of the disease and Araby not being sure who she can trust, the situation is definitely deteriorating. Her best friend is dying, her mother is a prisoner of an evil ruler. It seems Araby’s father is somehow involved in everything that’s happened. Can things get any worse?
I found this book well written and fascinating. The characters are well developed and engaging. I found it a little hard to relate to Araby, but that didn’t matter. The story pulled me in anyway.
I would recommend this story to anyone who likes dystopic fantasy (with a little bit of steampunk thrown in, I think – actually it seems no story is actually all steampunk, it’s always just a bit, isn’t it?).
Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom
I found these books on Wattpad and read the first two titles in the series (and also a sort of prequel). Then I discovered there was a good price for all three books in print, and I got them, because generally, I like to own all my favorite books in print.
Just like the first books in the series, this one was great. Well written and fascinating. The characters felt real and they were likeable (though I do find it just a little bit annoying that Jennet is so perfect). As I’ve mentioned before I really like Marny a lot better.
The relatively dystopian future setting works well. I’m not usually a fan of the new dystopian subgenre. Just like the ‘new’ urban fantasy isn’t to my taste either. In this book, the setting works. It’s not a ‘total’ dystopy, just the sort of society we’re already seeing the first traces of, in slum areas and rural areas all over the world. There’s advanced technology, but also vast areas where people live in poverty in crumbling buildings with threatening criminal gangs taking over.
In this book, we get to see a bit more of other characters, but again, not nearly enough of Marny. I think she should have been more included in the plot and it would have been great if a love interest could have been found for her.
If you’ve read my reviews of the earlier books in the series, you already know about my feelings about this series, so I don’t have much more to add, other than that I can really recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy, but also those who like modern YA books. There may not be vampires, werewolves and zombies, but it feels ‘modern’ in the writing style and the description of characters and in this context, it’s all positive.
