Book Review
A Multitude of Dreams
Mara Rutherford
Publishing: August 29, 2023
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the author for my digital copy! All opinions are my own.

#qotd : Do you have a favorite creepy book or story? OR tell me something fun you did this weekend

Synopsis: "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 ahead."

This book was a gloriously Gothic delight! As this is a bit of a retelling of Masque of the Red Death by Poe, I had to read it. I love Poe and was so very curious. Mara's version was splendid and I couldn't get enough. The writing, the story, the characters. I fell in love. It reminded me a little bit of Gallant by V.E. Schwab but in a time of catastrophe, secrets, and madness.
I highly recommend you mark August 29th on your calendar so you can go and pick up this book! You won't regret it if you love the strange and gothic, or just excellent storytelling.

As an aside, I loved this book so much I went and bought her other book Poison Season. I need the others. New auto buy author!

#reviews #bookreviews #netgalley #mararutherford #amultitudeofdreams #Gothic #edgarallanpoe #retelling #masqueofthereddeath #spooky #secrets #madness #gorgeouscover #newfavoriteauthor #savethedate #Sunday #sundayfunday

I am a fan of Mara Rutherford's books and fortunately, A Multitude of Dreams did not disappoint. The chapters alternated between Princess Imogen who has been locked away with the other royals in the castle for years and Nico, a grave digger who survived the plague and was taken in by the illusive and magnanimous Lord Crane. The second half was filled with more action and suspense than the first half which was filled with character introductions and Nico making his way to the castle. The only negative was that the ending was wrapped up quickly with some questions not having been answered. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

When the plague claimed the princess Imogen, her sisters went out and found a replacement to keep their father the king sane. For four years, Seraphina has been sequestered in the castle, pretending to be someone else, living a life of privilege while knowing her family and anyone outside the castle is dead or dying of plague or starving. Nick was taken in by Lord Crane, who only wanted servants immune to the plague. But there's something wrong with Lord Crane. When Crane sends Nick on a mission to infiltrate the castle and find any survivors, Nick meets Seraphina... and though neither knows the other's real name, they discover a connection - and know they must escape.

A plague story inspired by Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" is right up my alley, and I loved all the twists this story took. While I would have also loved more allusions to Poe's story, there were a lot of interesting elements that made this story unique. Seraphina being Jewish was one of them, with the historically accurate blame for plagues. The assumed identities, the scheming sister, the mad king, the <spoiler>vampires</spoiler> - maybe for some it would be too much going on, but I liked that all the threads were woven through and made for twists that were unexpected. Plague stories sure hit differently after 2020, yet this had enough fantasy that it didn't hit too hard.

Book Name: A Multitude of Dreams
Author: Mara Rutherford

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC of A Multitude of Dreams

Stars: 5
Spice : 2

Standalone
Fast Paced
Plot Centric
Dual POV
High Fantasy with sprinkles of our reality
Similar to A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass

- Topics
- Identity when everything is stripped away
- Secretes and Truth
- Freedom
- Plague
- Survivors Guilt
- Antisemitism
- Tropes
- Vampires
- Girl Makes First Move
- Good Guy/Shy guy
- Secret Identities
- Thoughts.
- Such FUN
- Love the FMC and MMC dynamic
- Gothic Vibes
- Plague Covid Parralles
- Isolation Quarantining and Compassion/Empathy Tension
- Young Adult (enjoyable for older readers too)
POE RETELLING!!!!!!!!

A plague! Vampires? Secret identities!

A Multitude of Dreams was a Gothic slow burn of haunted woods, crumbling mansions, and creatures of the night…

I enjoyed the dual point-of-view and at times enjoyed Nico’s more so than Seraphina’s.

I love Poe’s works so I was happy to read a book based on his “Masque of the Red Death.” Plague narratives in general intrigue me. I like to analyze the survival tactics and become familiar with the human instinct to survive and protect others.

I respect the author's choice of putting her culture and religious identity into a fantasy world. It fit quite well and is a good reminder of atrocities committed against specific groups.

My only critique is that there was altogether too much vomiting and blushing. The author could tone that aspect back a tad.

It's no secret that I LOVE Edgar Allan Poe. When I heard this novel was written, i couldn't wait to get my hands on it! When news of a plague striking reaches a super wealthy king, he sweeps up his royal court, his daughters and many servants into his castle keep. He boards up all the windows and doors to keep the plague at bay. And after three years, his favorite daughter is having her a milestone birthday... so he decides to have an elaborate fete. What could go wrong? Sound familiar? It should! For better or worse, here's where the similarities to Poe's story end. I absolutely loved the twist on the classic though! I don't want to give too much away, but this may be my favorite Poe retelling ever.
What I loved most: the scathing social commentary, the addition of politics between Jews and gentiles (well researched for historical accuracy, and the addition of vampires to a classic.
I feel like my middle and HS students will love this novel!

I have loved everything Mara Rutherford has written and this is no exception. I loved Seraphina, Nico and Jocelyn. The worldbuilding was excellent. Even though it was a small area I really felt like I was in the story. The tiny bit of romance was like a breath of fresh air. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had read it in the fall/winter.

4 - this was so unexpected! A great fantasy standalone, I just think the last 100 pages could have been condensed as we kept going back and forth.

I did really love how the author brought back in everything she had referred to earlier in the story, it felt very well planned.

I don't want to say too much because the suspense at the beginning was really fantastic - I would definitely pick this up!

The global pandemic was no joke, but at least we didn’t have to contend with vampires.

I’m not familiar with the original Poe which inspired this story, but I was still immediately drawn in by both Princess Imogen and Nico, a royal confined in stifling quarantine and a scrappy gentleman’s son turned grave digger in the service of a lord whose house has been one of the only bastions against the outfall of the plague. Most of the book revolves around secrets and intrigue, culminating in non-stop spooky action near the finale. I did want a little more from the clock and raven motifs, it felt like they were mostly there for the aesthetic. But there's still plenty of moments oozing with sinister yet majestic intentions and details which I absolutely loved.

As in her other books, the author effortlessly eases into a whole new pseudo historical fantasy world. The one thing that kept taking me out was the inclusion of the Jews, who are, as in history, used as scapegoats for misfortune. While the author’s note explains the personal importance of not simply using an analogous persecuted group, the terminology felt pretty jarring, in the context of a fantasy world. Not my preference, but I respect the decision.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very dark but intriguing read. Geared for YA so it read a bit childish to me at times but still interesting!

Book: A Multitude of Dreams
Author: Mara Rutherford
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Inkyard Press, for sending me an ARC. I feel like Mara is one of those authors who slips under the radar. She writes fairytale retellings and books that have a fairytale feeling. Her writing can pull you in and make you not want to leave. This fairytale world is one that usually has something wrong going on, but still creates this spell that makes it impossible to leave.

In this one, we are in a land that has been locked down due to a plague. Those who didn’t manage to shelter in place are dead. The land is dead as those who have survived have killed all of the animals and eaten all of the plants. The plague is now supposed to be over, but people are still afraid to venture outside of their walls. The king is one such person. Everyone who lives in the castle has not set foot outside in four years. The windows were boarded up and they haven’t even had sunlight during this time. They are alive though. As rumours about the plague being overreach them, everyone gets a little restless. Seraphina is an imposter. She is pretending to be the king’s dead daughter and she wants out. Nico is outside of the walls. He has lost everything in the plague. He once lived a comfortable life and is now a servant for Lord Crane. When rumours of people living in the castle reach Lord Crane, Nico is sent to investigate. While he does find people alive and well in the castle, he quickly discovers that whatever is lurking is far more dangerous than any plague.

Mara does an amazing job at capturing the fear of the unknown when it comes to a new illness. Groups are blamed. In this case, as it was in historical times, Jews are blamed. People hate the Jews, even if they have never met one. There is also food storage, people fearing those who are different from there, and overall fear. Lives have been forever changed. Even when the world appears to be returning to normal, people are still afraid. There is also the case of the very top and very wealthy have been sealed away to live what seems like a life of luxury while everyone is left to suffer. They all get to escape the plague and the horrors that linger out there, while everyone has to worry about the next hour. They have balls, food, and social activities, while the rest of the kingdom does not. However, as the book, goes on, we do see that this is not the case for everything.

I thought that Nico and Seraphina were great leads. They were on opposite ends, but yet the same. Both of them are living a life that isn’t there. Seraphina is from the Jewish quarter and is hated because of that. Yet, because she happened to look like the dead princess, she is plucked from the quarter by the other princesses to play a role. Why? Because no one wanted to tell the king that his favourite daughter is dead. The king suffers from serving mental illness. She has no idea what has happened to her family. She doesn’t even know if they are alive. Nico had a comfortable life and was training to be a daughter. His entire family was killed by the plague. He was forced into the country and was nearly dead when Crane found him. He now works as a servant for Crane, but he is alive. They both have taken on this role of neither one being who they truly are. While this is a fantasy, it is also about being yourself and finding yourself in the darkest of times. This is something that we all need in the post-COVID-19 world. Even though we were in lockdown and may have had to change our lives, we can still get back to who we were. If we want a different path, that’s okay.

My only complaint about the characters was they didn’t act their age. Mara does explain this by saying that they were young when the plague happened. I guess that does make sense. They didn’t have a chance to interact with peers and grow. Therefore, it does make sense that they were a little immature. Although Nico has been out in the world, so he doesn’t make sense. It could be because of how much his life changed. I don’t know. It is YA, so maybe I just need to let it go.

Trigger warning time. I normally don’t list them, but I do think that since this is about a plague and lockdown people may need a thing or two. If lockdown and a worldwide pandemic are triggers for you, don’t pick this up. It goes into detail about the mass destruction and death that a pandemic can and will cause.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I am excited to see what Mara puts out next.

This book comes out on August 29, 2023.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/aByd5FbYhg8

Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the chance to read A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford before publishing.
All thoughts spoken are my own.

GR rating: 4 ⭐'s
My rating: 4 ⭐'s

I thoroughly enjoyed The Poison Season so was very excited to give Rutherford's next book a read, and it did not disappoint. The dark gothic vibes, the romance, masquerade balls, the plague. Everything was super intriguing, and I loved the mystery of it all.
Another solid read from. Rutherford!

At times the writing did feel a little juvenile, but I feel like it stays true to its YA genre.

All in all an enjoyable read though and I will recommend it to others!

Releasing August 29th 2023

Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the advanced copy of this book. I loved The Poison Season so when I saw this I knew it was a must read. I was not disappointed! I loved the gothic romance vibes and the general mysterious feeling of the story. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. LOVED that suspense. I may have stayed up until 2am because I just had to know how it ended!

Thank you Inkyard Press and Netgalley for the ARC!
.
✨So…I started off reading this book extremely excited as it had almost everything I like to see in a fantasy. It was gothic, there’s royalty, romance, diversity, etc. and one of the biggest selling points for me was it went into antisemitism and I was really interested to see how that idea worked into the story and I was even MORE excited when the main character was Jewish. So to say I was excited for the plot and this characters journey was an understatement…but I DNF-ed 50% in.

Here’s why.

I love a good YA but this was just written in a way that was juvenile. The dialogue between the characters always felt unserious and not extremely thought out. I also felt as though there was a lot of info dumping towards the beginning, especially about Seraphina and her past, that made for a few confusing chapters I had to muddle through. The plot was definitely there…but then vampires were brought it and it got a bit to cliché and unoriginal.

I plan in the future to give it a re-read but at this time, it was pretty tough for me to get into the story and im disappointed that I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.

I love the recent uptick in retellings or reimaginings lately, they're so much fun! This is a YA Gothic fantasy in the vein of THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Poe. I love the source material and really enjoyed this - a great blend of spooky, ethereal fantasy and horror!

Sum of my review: This book did not spend enough time on any single part of the book, so all of it ended up being a letdown.

A Multitude of Dreams could have had it all. A mysterious deadly plague, a fake princess, and a forbidden romance are solid tropes to build a great fantasy novel with. But was this really a fantasy novel? It tried to be a combination of historical, fantasy, and supernatural, which did not work out.

The novel started off pretty solid. We get to know Princess Imogen, or Seraphina, a Jew stolen from her home to take the place of the real princess who had died from the plague. Not willing to break the King's already fragile state of mind, Seraphina plays her roles for years, held captive in the castle with hundreds of other nobles to avoid the plague. But as food starts to run out, and the King becomes even more determined to keep them all in the castle, Seraphina devises a plan to escape. We also follow Nico, an immune, who lost his position of comfort when his family was killed off by the plague. He now works for a Lord, who Nico has come to see as a father figure. When an immaculate (untouched by the plague) woman goes missing from the manor under odd circumstances, Nico questions his employer. Sent on a mission to discover more immaculates, Nico and Seraphine met under a web of lies they've spun, endangering those closest to them.

When Jews were introduced, I rechecked the blurb. While it is sadly true that the Jewish community has been unfairly blamed for plagues in the past, it is wildly out of place here. Outside of the one Jewish community mentioned, nothing resembled the modern world. Everything was still fantastical. The countries had no resemblance to our own geography, and the plague did not resemble any set part of history. Upon reading the acknowledgments, I found out the author is Jewish, so it makes sense that she would want to include this part of her history in her writing; this was not the book to do it.

Another thing that was out of left field was the (view spoiler)

As a STEM girlie, the use of inoculation hurt. Inoculation is a sterile process. It does not work by cutting open your palms and giving each other high fives! This is also a super cool way to give yourself infections and all kinds of wonderful bacteria. This is the third thing in this novel that the author included that was not given the proper attention or care it deserves. I understand that in medieval times science was not like it is today, but in that case, inoculation should have just not been introduced in the first place.

While these are my three main gripes with A Multitude of Dreams, the whole book just did not click for me. The characters were underdeveloped, the romance happened within three days, and I couldn't bring myself to be invested in one thing taking place.

I really don't know who this book would work for. I wish I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story inspired by the Red Death. The author builds a world of extravagance in the face of shortages and privilege during a time of plague. Folded in amid a story line of anti-semitism that is tragically realistic. A young girl taken from her home for the purpose of a cover up. She is despised for doing the work they require of her. Moral dilemmas abound and scary monsters lurk. A great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review. (Publish Date: 29 Aug 2023)

I was drawn to this book immediately when I read on the author’s Goodreads’s page that “A Multitude of Dreams” was a reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” – which happens to be one of my favorite short stories from Poe!

“Her entire life was one never-ending masquerade.”

The story follows Princess Imogen and Nico Mott in the aftermath that followed the plague that took so many lives in their kingdom. The princess had been locked up with her family and servants in their castle for nearly four years and was forbidden to mention the plague. Nico lost everything when the plague took the lives of his entire family and left him to be employed as a grave digger.

This book did not disappoint! I was invested from the beginning with Princess Imogen’s deadly secret, Nico’s alarming discoveries, and how they work together to peel back the layers of secrets and lies that surround them both.

I don’t want to give away spoilers, but there were so many shocking moments during this book that I never saw coming! Rutherford is a master at weaving together just enough to hook you, and then she turns everything upside down, inside out, and leaves you reeling!

I highly recommend this book to teens, young adults, and adults who love a great mystery twisted into a dark fairytale.

This book was amazing. Very original and surprising.
I only didn't understand the title but that's fine.

thank you netgalley for the arc !

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 3/5 stars ✩࿐

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ lies upon lies upon lies
♡ jewish rep
♡ edgar allen poe

⁀➷ dear reader,
you’re cordially invited to a bloody and gothic masquerade, seething with intrigue, skin-crawling discoveries and leering, shadowy twists and turns.
location: a multitude of dreams.
length: 384 pages

princess imogen of goslind kingdom has been dancing in one endless masquerade ball since coming to eldridge hall. for should the dance end and her mask fall, her doom will be writ in stone. the real princess imogen died four years ago of the same mori roja, the same plague which ravaged and pillage the kingdom. only a privileged few in her midst know that beneath the mask is jewish commoner seraphina blum. but within the tenebrous walls of the palace she is by no means the only dancer in this game of pretend. with a mad king who has enacted a veritable self-imposed siege on himself and those attendant at the eldridge hall under the pretence that it is for their own safety, everyone there has been bullied into two-stepping around this ballroom of charade. not only that, but they all must go on pretending the plague has never taken place and on no account dare to mention it in the presence of their king. now that the food supplies petering out, it’s looking like the masquerading is about to forcefully come to a long-overdue end. meanwhile, elsewhere in goslind, plague survivor nicodemus mott resides in crane manor thanks to the benevolence of lord crane who granted tenancy to nico and other immunes. with the plague ostensibly having burned itself out, nico’s been tasked by the same man who saved him to get the lay of the land, as well as scour for survivors. ending up at eldridge hall and determined to put those within on alert of the dangers he’s learned along the way, nico and seraphina’s paths and their manifold lies weave together.

⁀➷ as a retelling of edgar allan poe’s the masque of the red death, a multitude of dreams already has a weighty mantle to bear. its no easy feat to honour such eerily lush material and yet, with the conceit of a masquerade, unsettling imagery dripping with blood and gothic notes ringing in the mysterious passages of eldridge hall - mara rutherford has exceptionally paid her due to the original over and over. thumbing through each page you’ll feel the horrors within breathing down your neck and continuing down the shadowy path of the story to see where it leads to will seem almost involuntary.

⁀➷ unfortunately, here comes the universally dreaded caveat of but… in determining to embrace an element of historical fiction by virtue of having jews represented and in turn scapegoated by the people of goslind for the plague outbreak, the story takes on an even heavier load. before anyone attacks me for this - i’m jewish myself… by itself this was not an unwise authorial choice and very well could have even enriched what is otherwise a story more concerned with thrill than perhaps some sort of moral discourse. it’s only when you juxtapose it with the more gauche, over the top supernatural ingredients going into the mixing bowl that you’re then left with everything feeling a bit cheapened all around. the load carried on this plot’s shoulders is far too cumbersome and in effect, the masterful execution of the gothic genre is rendered a little ungainly.

⁀➷ i found nico as a character to be a little one-note although sweet in his bashfulness. his chivalric tendencies were endearing if not a bit trite at times. seraphina i wanted desperately to like what with her eschewing her opulent room in favour of a drafty abandoned tower - i mean, the girl has principles!! but it was not to be for us. the humbleness swiftly turned into a bit of a martyred routine and her insistence on being not like other girls was pretty on the nose. that said, in the company of one another i did find them both to be far more enjoyable as the youthfulness of their romance warmed the cockles of my heart.

⁀➷ conclusion :
as a gothic fairytale, a multitude of dreams will seize your attention and hold it captive till the end with its shadowy vaults of secrecy. disregarding my sentiments towards the jewish subplot, the twisting, foreboding sentences and pages cobwebbed with lies will leave you breathless until the final act.