The world in Masque of the Red Death is being destroyed by a plague called the Weeping Sickness. Because the air is foul and contaminated, everyone who can afford one wears a mask that covers half his/her face to keep out the sickness. Araby Worth lives in a pastiche of New Orleans and Paris in the fin de siecle. There are carriages and corsets, but this is no Gilded Age. The sickness killed the horses, so everyone relies on steam to power their carriages and machines (yes, this is a steampunk novel). In order to prove a person doesn't have the sickness, tattered clothing exposing as much skin as possible is worn. Inexplicably, dramatic glittery makeup and tattoos abound, despite the pseudo-historical premise. Young women of the upper classes go clubbing and inject drugs to pass the time and forget the horror and death all around them.
Araby, the daughter of the scientist who created the masks, goes where she wants whenever she wishes. She spends her evenings at the Debauchery Club with her friend April, niece of Prince Prospero (the villain in this tale). Though the people suffer, the Prince does nothing but send out his soldiers, killing any infected persons. Prospero feasts in his castle, safely behind his walls (this is where the Poe influence comes in). One night, the bouncer at the club finds Araby in a drugged stupor, and decides to help her. The two grow close over the story, as Araby finally finds something to goad her out of her sadness and self-hatred. Since Araby's brother died of the sickness, she has had nothing to live for, preferring to wander through existence in a drug-induced haze. The bouncer, Will, has two younger siblings for whom Araby begins to care, and she tries to help the family, who live in the lower city, the disease-ridden, dangerous part of the city.
But what Young Adult novel is complete without a love triangle? Will pursues Araby, but so does Eliott, the nephew of the Prince (April's brother). Eliott wants to use Araby to get to her father's inventions and medicines, as Eliott is planning a rebellion against the Prince. Araby is just bored and gullible enough to fall in with Eliott's plans. I should probably mention that Eliott is also Araby's drug dealer, so they have some prior acquaintance. Helping Eliott endangers Araby, who now becomes a target of the Prince and of the rival rebel faction gaining power in the city. And to make things worse, a new plague is hitting the city, the Red Death (more Poe!). Araby will have to decide whether to become a part of the world and accept her place in it, or die screaming.
There is some interesting world building in this novel: the city, the sickness, the steampunk elements. For some reason, turn-of-the-century girls have become bright-haired goths, and the young men are tattooed rakes. No one is chaperoned, and despite the terrible sickness killing people daily (publicly), parents don't seem to take much care of their children. Young people do what they please, where they please, mostly at clubs, and stagger home drunk at dawn. This doesn't seem like realistic behavior, but hey, it's alternate history. It takes time for the city to come alive for the reader - the author slowly builds atmosphere and effect throughout the 336 pages, finally creating a vivid world by the end of the first installment. The action sequences are entertaining, and the dystopia/Poe mashup is an intriguing concept.
The characterization, however, falls short of the novel's promise. Araby is a zombie for much of the novel, she's a drug addict, and she's very naive. Dangerously naive. She has to be rescued several times by other characters with more common sense. Araby allows herself to become a pawn in Eliott's rebellion, with little benefit. And for someone who spends her nights in Debauchery, she's remarkably bland. She is neither fun-loving nor exciting. She's more cautious than her friend April, but both do remarkably stupid things. While some of her motivation is provided (the dead brother), the rest of Araby is a void.
Will is equally vague. All we learn about him is that he loves his family, and he's caring enough not to leave Araby passed out at the club. We know little else about him. That said, he's far more pleasant than Eliott. Love interest #2 is rakish, manipulative, cold, and (as I've pointed out), a drug dealer. He fancies himself a rebel poet, and uses Araby to achieve his ends. Eliott is one of those alpha male aggressor heroes that populate romance novels and many young adult books. He's pushy sexually, and he alienates Araby from her family. He's not a very nice person, but he's so broody and handsome that we're not supposed to care. Eliott fully admits that while he is fond of Araby, he would not hesitate to sacrifice her for his cause. Somehow Araby finds all this compelling, so she goes along with it, and we're treated to another 200 pages of her conflicted feelings for the two men.
The novel would have been stronger with more supporting characters and fewer potential lovers. All young adult novels these days seem to require 3 books and 2 love interests, but the formula is getting really tired. Hopefully Araby will decide to become a real character in the next installment, rather than be pulled along by the fellas. By the end of the first volume there are several potential supporting characters introduced, and they may have bigger roles in subsequent volumes.
