"Masque of the Red Death (Masque of the Red Death, #1)" by Bethany Griffin

5 out of 5 stars

Read November 13 to 17, 2013

Pages: 319
Published: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Greenwillow Books

This book has a kind of slow start. After a little bit of world-building, everything starts to make more sense. I thought that it was really cool that Ms. Griffin was able to sort of make this a retelling/story connected to Poe's Masque of the Red Death.

At first, I was team Will. It seemed like they had more chemistry than Araby had with Elliot. He also seemed like a great guy because he took care of his much younger siblings and did everything he could to keep them safe. Araby got along with them really well, so that was good. I wasn't so much team Elliot because it seemed like he was just using her and didn't really have feelings for her. But at the end of the book, I changed teams.

Will turned out to be a liar and wasn't as great as he seemed. Elliot admitted that he actually did love Araby and wanted to be with her. It made me so sad! I really wanted to love Will, but I can't anymore. But Elliot seems nice. He better stay this way!!!

Araby
She isn't as loud as other characters. She prefers to keep the herself and not go out a lot. She feels terrible that she lived and her twin brother, Finn, died. She knows that everyone loved him more. I felt bad for her. I just wanted her to be happy but I felt like she was always lied to.

April
Araby's best friend that has the opposite personality. She's loud and outgoing and loves to go out. Although she can be kind of off in her own world, she really cares about Araby.

Will
When I met him, I fell in love. He just seemed so sweet and caring and I just wanted to hug him. Guess it was a lie because he wasn't telling Araby the truth.

Elliot
At first I didn't really like him, but now I do. I thought he was just using Araby, but he really does love her and he wants her to be safe.

Overall, this book started off slow, but I loved it. I thought that it was such a cool concept and I can't wait to read the sequel. Maybe Will will redeem himself. But I guess I'll just have to wait and see...