by Bethany Griffin
Published April 2012 by Greenwillow Books
Summary (goodreads):
Everything is in ruins.A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them. So what does Araby Worth have to live for?
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does. And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.
Review:
I picked this one up when one of my favorite authors left a tempting review for it on Goodreads before it was released. It follows Araby Worth into a world corrupted by plague and the rich King Prospero. Everyone wears masks to avoid catching the plague, but they are normally only afforded by the rich. For me, the story was hard to follow in the beginning, just because there would be a scene transition but the flow of the writing didn't allow for me to pick up on such things. Again, it was probably because of the type of reader I am (FAST!). I liked the secondary characters and the ending was very unpredictable, at least to me, something that doesn't happen often in YA books anymore. I finished it in a few days of reading on and off because the story and the writing pulled me into the world, and I didn't want to leave until the book was finished. The ending left me a bit unsatisfied, but I was happier when I checked again on Goodreads and found that it is actually going to be a series.
3.5/5
