I really enjoyed The Poison season so looked forward to gettin this. Dark creepy gothic novel with a bit of eerie vibes from Poison Season. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mara Rutherford has a way of writing such uniquely original stories and A Multitude of Dreams is no different! This has got to be Mara's darkest book so far and I have to say I am a big fan!

A Multitude of Dreams is dual POV and follows an imposter princess and a grave digger in a unique re-imagining of Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death.

After four years locked away from the plague that has devastated Goslind the servants and nobility of Eldridge Hall are growing restless and food is becoming scarce. When Princess Imogen convinces the mad King to have the boards covering the windows pulled down, they unknowingly let in a lot more than the sunrise.

Mara has always written strong and intriguing characters and that was no different in AMOD. While I enjoyed the characters I did find the main relationship lacking in depth and a little forced.

I really enjoyed this gothic fantasy full of monsters, Death and suspense and I highly recommend it for all fantasy lovers.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Mara's Street team for this advanced copy.

Thank you Netgalley and Inkyard Press for providing me with an ARC of A Multitude of Dreams.

I found this story so intriguing and unlike anything I’ve ever read before! The writing was so unique, and the fantasy entwined with the dark elements made this such an interesting read!

I loved the dual-POV and that the characters storylines began separately but ended up intertwining. I found myself really drawn to the characters throughout the book as well, although I do wish some of their backgrounds were explained in a bit more depth.

Overall, this was such an intriguing gothic fantasy story, and I look forward to reading other books by Mara Rutherford!

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford is inspired by Poe's classic short horror story, "The Masque of the Red Death." I wouldn't necessarily call it a retelling; instead, Rutherford borrows story elements from Poe to weave a clever, new tale. The story is told from a dual POV until the two main character's stories intersect.

Despite a slow start and a couple of confusing sections, I enjoyed this gothic fantasy. Rutherford created an ominous mood, adding suspense. The characters are relatable, if underdeveloped, and it's refreshing to see ordinary people with no special skills or magic fight the antagonist. It is a fun, easy read, and the worldbuilding is simple.

One aspect I don't care for is Rutherford's choice to incorporate actual elements of history into this gothic fantasy. The main characters live in a fictional world ravaged by a plague, which has mutated to create imaginary monsters. Yet Seraphina is a Jew who has experienced persecution due to antisemitism. Jews in the story are despised and become the scapegoat for the plague. Despite Rutherford's explanation for including this element of history, the fantastical and supernatural elements do not mesh well with this historical addition.

Overall, I rate this book 3.5/5. In "A Multitude of Dreams," nothing is as it seems, and appearances are deceiving! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book.

I adored Rutherford's Poison Season, so I was really eager to read her next release. Unfortunately, this one didn't quite grip me in the same way. While the story was interesting, I didn't feel a strong emotional connection to the characters, which I need to truly love a book.

Mara Rutherford spins a tale of deadly secrets in “A Multitude of Dreams,” which follows the POV of two characters caught in very different circumstances, who live in a world ravaged by an apocalyptic plague.

The premise of “A Multitude of Dreams” is absolutely riveting, and the story features a host of characters to follow along with; including a mad king, a lonely girl posing as a dead princess and a conflicted boy employed by a rather shady father figure. Where the book falls a bit flat lies with the likability and relatability of the characters themselves. The main missing element is in motivation — why several of the key characters make the choices they do isn’t really ever delved into. (It’s also worth noting the relationship between Imogen and Nico felt too insta-love to be interesting, which is a big drawback for a book built around their inevitable collision.)

At its best, ”A Multitude of Dreams” is an intriguing read, boasting a plot that offers up a fresh new twist on some classic YA tropes.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an ARC in exchange for a review.*

Liked: where to start? Once you start reading it get drawn in and you have to know what happens next. The story is wonderfully told and is a vidid gothic fantasy that has a little bit of everything- romance, plagues, vampires, betrayal, found family, and more. I loved how strong Seraphina is despite everything she goes through! I enjoyed watching the masks each character wore start to peal away and see their true colors. Many things and people aren’t what they seem. I loved the references to Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death.

Dislike: I would have liked more relationship building between Serpahina and Nico.

A Multitude of Dreams was a satisfying read, though I would classify it under a quick palette cleansing type book. For me that means I've either read a lot of emotionally heavy work and need something to breeze through, or I'm in a bit of a slump and need something fun to breeze through. (This isn't a bad thing to me!!)

Princess Imogen is sick of the walls, the people, and the lack of food and freedom surrounding her.

Nico is tired of digging graves, of seeing death, and suspicious of the life and second chance he's been given.

I liked both characters, but Nico of course was a gem. The story was not overly complex, and neither was the prose but I did have a 'well I didn't see that coming' moment, so I can file this away as a successful, fun read with enjoyable characters.

If you enjoy a moody read with monsters and death and wonderful characters, this book is for you :)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of A Multitude of Dreams in exchange for my honest opinion

Absolutely delightful and addictive.

This is a dual-POV, gothic, fantasy. It follows sour two main characters, a grave-digger named Nico and a “princess” named Seraphina. Seraphina has spent the last four years locked in a castle with the mad king while a plague ravaged the lands. Nico has spent the last four years surviving a plague-stricken land and burying his loved ones.

Everything isn’t how it seems, however. Seraphina may be dressed as a princess, but she certainly wasn’t born one. Before the plague Nico has been a gentleman, although his hands now are calloused and dirty. With food running out, the king being ill, and strange happenings afoot, Seraphina and Nico both have their roles to play.

This was a really fun time. I loved the mysterious and gothic vibes. I really enjoyed the dual-POV. I was never disappointed when switching POVs and I felt they were paced really well. The worldbuilding was so interesting, and honestly every page held twists and turns.

This story is dark, but cozy and was so easy to get lost in. It feels like a fairytale and a nightmare wrapped in one. I loved being in this world. I really liked how the story unfolded. Information was given piece by piece, and I loved building this world while the story progressed.

Seraphina is Jewish, and this plays an extremely essential role to her as a character and her story. I cannot speak on how she represents the community as I am not part of it. However, I really loved her as our fmc. She was witty, strong, and spunky.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. It is my first by this author, and I will definitely read more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the arc in exchange for a review.

*Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for sending me this eARC to review!*

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾overall rating: 3.5/5 stars, but rounding up to 4 stars☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

↪this book is for you if you like...
☽ dark academia
☽ retelling
☽ edgar allen poe
☽ horror
☽ enemies to lovers slow burn
☽ gothic
☽ dual pov
☽ erin a. craig books

↪length: 384 pages

༻✦༺ old king stuart's lost his head, hoping he won't end up dead. ༻✦༺
༻✦༺ lock the windows, bar the door; the plague will come for rich and poor. ༻✦༺
༻✦༺ if you want to stay alive, there are three ways to survive: ༻✦༺
༻✦༺ run away across the sea; pray for blood immunity; ༻✦༺
༻✦༺ or die and be reborn again, and drink the blood of living men. ༻✦༺

dear reader, you're in for a treat of you love gothic horror retellings, masquerade balls, enemies to lovers and tons of deceit.

what i liked
☽ overall vibes
☽ writing style (very fast-paced, didn't feel like it dragged)
☽ can we talk about the cover?? like, hello gorgeous
☽ action-packed ending
☽ well-written villain
☽ well-written secondary characters that actually had plot-relevance

what i didn't like
☽ i wish that there was more jewish rep other than the occasional mention of seraphina being jewish--it felt somewhat out of place
☽ i wish there could have been a little more development of the romance between nico and seraphina
☽ nico was a little bit of a flat character, but was cute ⁎ᵕᴗᵕ⁎
☽ i wish there was more explanation of the vampires and what exactly they can and can't do, because it felt like they were just

☾trigger warnings☽
death, blood, violence, mild self-harm, antisemitism, death of a parent, grief

*i will be posting this review to my goodreads and storygraph on August 1st, and well as a shortened version to twitter and instagram on that date as well.*

I didn’t realize that this was a Poe retelling until the end! It was amazingly well written and I read it so quickly. Seraphina as an imposter princess was a fantastic plot device and the romance with Nico was so sweet. I loved Nico’s character the most. He’s so kind and tries to do the right thing and he cares about the people around him so much. The ultimate soft masculinity. I felt like I was in the castle with how well it was described. Very well done!

This book was so good! Mara Rutherford never disappoints! Some of my favorite tropes rolled into one. It has the castle setting with dystopia and secrets all in one.

I started this at midnight and literally had to force myself to stop reading about halfway through because it was 1 AM and I was creeped out. I started reading again as soon as I woke up and I couldn't put it down! Fast-paced and unpredictable, and I loved the 5 main characters. I think this was amazing as a standalone, but I would definitely love to learn more about the backgrounds of the other characters.

"Women like me always get what they want." I SCREAMED !!!

I was captivated from the first page and found myself unable to put this book down. The mystery slowly unraveled itself and soon as I thought I knew what was going on another element was added that made me second guess myself. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it

Overall, this turned out to be a fine read for me. I loved the concept of this book but I found the execution to be just okay. While I did like following the main character, I wished for a lot more from this. I feel like the world, the 'fresh horror' and the romance could have used more development to truly make this special. I think this author has some really interesting ideas but needed more room to expand out with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

“A Multitude of Dreams” is a perfectly acceptable, adequate, and unobjectionable addition to the YA fantasy genre. Seraphina is a lookalike posing as a dead princess trapped inside a castle by a paranoid king who believes she is his daughter; Nico is former nobility and an aspiring physician beholden to the slimy Lord Crane. The setting is post-apocalyptic plague, and isolated pockets of people lack information about the others.
I don’t really have much to say about this book, because the book doesn’t have very much to say. The characters are fine, the setting is fine, it’s all fine. This book didn’t really stand out to me, but hopefully others will enjoy it more.

If you like gothic fantasy this is the book for you. A fantasy novel about plagues and vampires, A Multitude of Dreams’s greatest strength is its atmosphere. Rutherford’s prose is dark and luscious and makes you feel deeply immersed in the story. I also love stories with a large web of secrets and webs, and this definitely has it. There were a few moments where it was started to feel more convoluted and it took me out of the story a bit, but I was quickly able to get back in it. The characters of Nico and Imogen were fine and I enjoyed following them, but they didn’t leave a lingering impact. I will say despite its flaws the atmosphere and prose were gorgeous and if you like a dark, gothic fantasy you should definitely pick this up.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Title: A Multitude of Dreams
Author: Mara Rutherford
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publishing Date: Aug 29, 2023
Pages: 384
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Rating: ☆☆☆

I was very intrigued by the synopsis and premise of this book. I loved the gothic vampire vibe and it could definitely attract a certain type of reader… but that reader is not me, unfortunately.
I was bored for just about the whole book, and it was way too slow paced for me. The world building just wasn’t there for me and didn’t interest me like I hoped it would. The ending was also very rushed and didn’t satisfy me after pushing through the entire book.
That being said, I didn’t hate it! I think that it’s just my own personal opinions and style that hindered my thoughts and overall feelings towards the story. I can definitely see an audience for this story and readers really enjoying it.
If you like light, slow, casual, YA books featuring vampires and a dark gothic undertone, then for sure give it a try! It’s also a relatively short book (384 pages) so you don’t have to be completely invested and would make a great buffer book between epic fantasies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for sending this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Special thanks to NetGalley, authors, and the publisher for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts. I thought that this started out strong. But it kinda got a little convoluted. I really wanted to like this book, but the world building was a little hard for me to get on board with. Still with that issue the book did kinda of get back on its feet. I did end this book really enjoying it. 3.9 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

*spoilers*

I really wanted to like this book. It had all the right pieces they just were not put together the right way for me. I got about 40% in and by that point I was apathetic to all the characters and was not intrigued by the "mystery" of the book. Nico and Imogen hadn't even met by that point and I was unconvinced...also the "vampiric" element...not good?

but please don't let my apathy deter you - try it for yourself.