Review: A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford
From the publisher:
Princess Imogen of Goslind has lived a sheltered life for three years at the boarded-up castle—she and the rest of its inhabitants safe from the bloody mori roja plague that’s ravaged the kingdom. But Princess Imogen has a secret, and as King Stuart descends further into madness, it’s at great risk of being revealed. Rations dwindle each day, and unhappy murmurings threaten to crack the facade of the years-long charade being played within the castle walls.
Nico Mott once enjoyed a comfortable life of status, but the plague took everyone and everything from him. If not for the generosity of a nearby lord, Nico may not have survived the mori roja’s aftermath. But does owing Lord Crane his life mean he owes him his silence?
When Lord Crane sends Nico to search for more plague survivors in the castle, Nico collides with a princess who wants to break out. They will each have to navigate the web of lies they’ve woven if they’re going to survive the nightmares that lie ahead.
Review:
Thank you to BookishFirst and Inkyard Press for an ARC of this book.
I loved The Poison Season so when I saw Mara Rutherford's new book, I had to read it and I completely blew through it and couldn't put it down.
A Multitude of Dreams is a reimagination of Poe's The Masque of the Red Death--A plague runs rampant in the kingdom while the king and the nobles lock themselves into the castle and pretend it doesn't exist. The story alternates points of view between Seraphina, a girl from the Jewish quarter who was stolen away and forced to imitate the dead Princess Imogen to placate the Mad King; and Nico, a minor noble who was the only one to survive the plague and has found himself serving the enigmatic and very much evil Lord Crane. After four years trapped in the castle with dwindling food and patience, Seraphina's path crosses with Nico's as she is trying to break out and find her way home while he is sent by Lord Crane to find out if anyone in the castle has survived.
The book has lots of mystery, creepiness, and red herrings. The first half of the story builds everything up so so well, but the ending was just a little too neat and everything wrapped up a bit too cleanly. All in all, it was a great read, I just wish the ending had the same feel as the start of the book.
4/5 stars
There are some suggestive jokes and one fade to black spicy scene.