The Dance of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death, #2)

by Bethany Griffin

Araby's life is on the line. The mob wants her. The rebels want her. Her brother is dead. Soon, her best friend could be too. Her mother is prisoner and her father is in hiding. And the two boys who stole her heart have both betrayed her. But Araby is going to fight back.

In the superb sequel to MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, what Araby decides may just decide the fate of humanity. Stunning dystopian romance and adventure from a talented storyteller, DANCE OF THE RED DEATH is the riveting conclusion to the dark and fascinating saga of an unforgettable heroine.

For fans of Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick and Cassandra Clare.

• ISBN10: 1780621396
• ISBN13: 9781780621395
• Publish Date: 6 June 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Orion Children's Books (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

"In my experience, the only way to survive in this world is to find something to live for." (Kent)

There's one thing that I can't stand... a love triangle that is drawn out for the sake of creating tension and drama.

The beginning of Dance of the Red Death is slow and boring. This is because the love triangle takes center stage. In Masque of the Red Death Araby realises that Will has betrayed her and that Elliot has feeling for her. In Dance of the Red Death three fatal love triangle flaws occur. They are:
1) The plot is forgotten, because apparently romance overtakes finding a way to save the city.
2) Araby's feelings and emotions are all over the place when it comes to her love interests. She's clearly undecided and leads both Elliot and Will on.
3) One of the love interests are made to look bad so that the other love interest is an automatically accepted final choice.

Apart from the love triangle, there are so many issues that I had such as deaths that don't mean anything to me, intriguing characters that have the potential for development but end up being undeveloped, villains without any clear motivations for their actions and an anti-climatic ending.

But, there are three things that I certainly enjoyed in Dance of the Red Death:

1) Araby's character development. In Dance of the Red Death, Araby isn't the same trusting person that she was in Masque of the Red Death. She becomes questioning and eager to know what's really going on. She also doesn't believe the things that she sees anymore. Araby becomes her own person. In Masque of the Red Death, she's dependent on April, Will and Elliot, but in Dance of the Red Death she starts to stand up for herself.

2) The world. Bethany Griffin creates an amazing world filled with so much of riches, luxury and wealth, but also so much of blood, decay and death. Dance of the Red Death also features some cool inventions that tie in with the Steampunk genre. Without the richly described world that Griffin's built, Dance of the Red Death wouldn't have amounted to much.

3) The Plague. I really enjoyed the whole idea of the Masque of the Red Death series revolving around an incurable plague. Whenever I was reading Dance of the Red Death I was constantly thinking about The Black Death. Imagining something from a fictional book that has a correlation to what has happened in History and could happen in the future is terrifying.

Dance of the Red Death has an awesome world and so much of potential for character development, but it's over-shadowed by a drawn out love triangle.

"There's always hope." (Will)

[Kelly]

http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/dance-of-red-death-by-bethany-griffin.html

Dance of the Red Death is seen through the eyes of Araby yet again, from the frightened girl who watched her brother die, to the brave young woman who has the power to forge forward with a revolution and bring the city back to a safe harbor without death and disease. With it's dramatic and opulent surroundings and costumes, Dance Of The Red Death transports you to a dystopian world, an apocalyptic event, but with the charm and demeanor of a historic era.

Beautifully written and mesmerising, it details the aspects of the new plague, and the dynamics of the characters. Entertaining, and the series seems to have come to an end, with only two books in the series sadly.

[littleread1]

I loved Masque of the Red Death. It was amazing and powerful, heart wrenching and beautiful; all the things that I think make up a book that you will remember forever. I had such high hopes going into Dance and was THRILLED when I was selected to review it. However it left me wanting.

The story picks up immediately where Masque left us; the city is in turmoil, and our merry band is barely escaping with their lives. The whole story is told from Araby’s point of view, first person present tense. Which I think is what makes it hard to follow at times. Like many of us would be in her situation, her train of thought can be all over the place and her mood shifts from moment to moment.

The most extreme example I can recall is when she is walking with Elliot and they come across several bodies in the street, having succumbed to the red death. She falls to her knees sobbing, then she is suddenly back up and on a mission. Um – what? There was no transition, no thought process from sobbing to determined. The reader is left to come to their own conclusions. And this happens several more times throughout the story.

Will remains to be one of my favorite characters in the whole story. I get him. He made some poor choices, but he did them for the right reasons. Elliot on the other hand, remains a giant tool bag that I want to repeatedly punch in the … face. He has his sights set on being the new ruler; he can’t always see what’s most important.

Overall, Dance wraps up the story nicely, with an ending that ties up many lose ends, but leaves a few open – just enough that you wonder if there could possibly be more story in the future. Would I read it? Yes. Despite the issues I had, the world building is tragically beautiful, if that makes sense. The story is sad, but good things still happen. If you loved Masque, I would most certainly recommend Dance, but maybe lower your expectations.

Overall Rating: 3.5