Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Multitude of Dreams

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

7 reviews

graceannee's review

I went in expecting a medievalesque dystopia. The plot ended up being more brigerton with vampires. I found it far too graphic for my taste.

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caitcat0212's review

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dark tense slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.75

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directorpurry's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I received a free eARC through Netgalley and Ink Yard Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Four princesses, the daughters of King Stuart, live secluded in a castle. The royals and nobles eat, sleep, and play locked within the walls while a great plague rages outside the walls – the mori roja. They do not know who is alive and who is dead outside. They do not where the food is coming from.

But one of the princesses holds a secret. Princess Imogen, the youngest and the king’s favorite, is not who she appears to be. In reality, she is Seraphina, a Jewish girl taking the place of royalty. Can she survive both her secret and the illness that is sweeping not just the kingdom but possibly the world?

CW: antisemitism, self-harm, blood, gore, description of injuries, mental illness, death, death of a child, death of a parent

As a great lover of vampire fiction (obviously) and a Jewish person, I may or may not have literally screamed when I found out I got my hands on an ARC. So, I hope you understand how genuinely gutted I am when I say this was one of my biggest disappointments of 2023.

I will say – I enjoyed the characters! Seraphina and Jocelyn’s relationship was sweet and interesting, and I was very engaged with interactions between the four princesses. The idea of a mad king/unwell patriarchal figure is something I also like in storytelling. It fits very well with the Gothic themes of a Poe-reimagining.

I’m one of those really annoying people who needs my historical fantasy settings to be well established in a particular time period or be in on it with the reader, purposefully obfuscating when the story takes place through introduction of various mediums that don’t fit a particular period (think Steampunk inventions). Unfortunately, I felt that rather than being in on the joke, the establishing was just under-developed due to lack of detail. The kingdoms featured (Pilmand and Goslind) are never placed in space, though it is stated clearly that the language in Goslind is English. No time period is established either through clothes, ruling structure, dances engaged in at the masquerade, or description of available firearms.

This is where my questions take on a Jewish bent. As a writer myself, and one who has been prominently featuring Jewish characters in my original work, I was disappointed with the overall world-building in the way that it incorporated Judaism.

Traditionally, vampires are particularly susceptible to Christian-related religious paraphernalia, such as crucifixes and holy water. While I by no means require mentions of that in my vampire fiction, I was confused at the complete lack of references to Christianity throughout the story. Why, you might ask, is this being included in a discussion of Jewish representation?

Well, because the story relies on tropes of persecution via Christianity that are glaringly lacking to my eyes. Why are Jews so persecuted in this country when there is no Christianity? The original antisemitism came from Christians believing Jews to have been the killers of Jesus, which was perpetuated when Jews were particularly difficult to convert. What is the “us” of this story to be set versus “them” (the Jews)?

Rutherford touches on blood libels in her author’s notes but does not touch specifically on the theme within the actual prose. (For context – the blood libels are a fear perpetuated frequently around Passover time – in the late spring, near Easter, or in periods of great civil unrest, that Jewish people were kidnapping Christian babies and pouring their blood into Matzah or other ceremonial breads. While this is a conspiracy theory that began in the Middle Ages, it is an ongoing problem. There have been searches and arrests of Jews into the 21st century on conspiracy of blood libel.) I think this was a misstep, as the antisemitism in the story, rather than hinging on an unknown reason of, “well, I guess they just hate the Jews!!” could instead have interrogated the very real problems of blood libel. Giselle’s antisemitism could not only have been directly disproven as false, it would have given Seraphina a chance to expand on Judaism within this setting.

I was also a bit confused as to why Yiddish is prominent within the community of Goslind, as it is a language that comes from an amalgam, usually Russian, Polish, German, and/or other Eastern European languages with Hebrew. Was the implication that this collection of Jews came from elsewhere? I don’t think that was it. Additionally, the word “pogrom” was used in reference to a great massacre of the Jewish population. While this word holds particular connotation – burnt houses, destroyed property, murders or arrests based on unfounded accusations, etc. – it is a Russian word. So why is it here? I think it would have been more powerful if the atrocities against the Jews were spelled out, not balanced on a word from another language that has cultural context outside of the setting of the novel.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel that any of the antisemitic characters were made to face their actions. They mostly just… died. Lol.

I was also a bit disappointed in the overall vampire lore in general. I am actually a bit of a fan of the “supernatural by illness/virus/bacteria/fungi” genre, but I especially like when stories play off tropes and themes within the traditional setting. There is not much context about why these vampires are different from all other vampires – or the same as others. (Ha – got a Passover joke in there for ya’!)

There was so much promise in the imagery that this novel sold me with, but I found the historical details and elements of cultural Judaism really held it back for me. I spent much more time questioning the setting than enjoying the story.

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reading_historical_romance's review

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This YA Dystopian/Fantasy was fabulous, and perfect for fans of The Maze Runner!

“Their choices were almost comically horrific: don’t eat, or be eaten.”

I’ve been hunting for awhile for a great new YA dystopian novel that doesn’t feel like a recycle or mish mash of the plots from the 2000-2010 renaissance of this genre, and I’m so happy to have finally found one in A Multitude of Dreams. This book had a similar feel to The Maze Runner in terms of its elements of violent horror, but it takes place in a medieval fantasy setting and has more fairytale and romance elements. The main characters are also older than a typical YA (the youngest is 17 ½ who presents herself as part of the plot as being 20, and most are grown adults 20 yrs+), so it was refreshing that there weren't the same "coming of age" plotlines that typically thread through a YA narrative.

I loved the premise of the novel, as it is so relatable after living through the COVID pandemic and all of the lockdowns, masking, social isolationism, and depression, fears and anxieties that came with it. Everyone reacted to and experienced the pandemic differently, and this is also true for the characters in the novel who faced and survived a deadly plague. Setting is one of the essential elements of a great novel for me, and the atmosphere developed by the author in this book was so vivid that I could practically hear and smell the environment from the descriptions on the page.

I loved Seraphina (and her name!) and Nico, and I loved how Henry was developed to be a well-rounded character instead of serving as a one-dimensional jealous alpha-male in Seraphina’s climactic last stand to choose life and freedom. I thought that the themes of forgiveness, redemption, and love were poignant, tender, true to the plot and characters, and didn’t feel preachy. The anti-Semitism aspect of the story is timely and circumspect given the sorry state of real-world current affairs.

I loved the characters so much, I would love a sequel. I would love to find out how Seraphina, Nico, and the other survivors rebuild their kingdom and their lives, and how their relationships deepen. I want Nico to find the “cure” so that all of the reborns are able to regain their mortality and resume aging normally. I want to read about how Henry, Dalia, and Colin find HEAs too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

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jessicaludden's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

“Hundreds of men and women, hundreds of different opinions and expectations, a multitude of dreams and nightmares... All waiting for her.”

I really liked the concept of this book. The idea of a country in the aftermath of a plague and a castle of noblemen being forced to stay by the king was intriguing. It had more horror elements than I thought it was going to have but I enjoyed the suspense and having to piece together the supernatural elements. But it didn’t feel very high stakes to me and while I enjoyed the characters none of them really stood out to me.

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riverlasol's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Equal parts horrifying and beautiful, Mara Rutherford has done it again. I’ve been a fan of her work for several years now and am lucky enough to even be on her street team, hence this early review. But no matter how much I wanted to love this beforehand it knocked it out of the park. This book is a delicious retelling of a story by Edgar Allen Poe and although I haven’t read the original, I thought this book had both a unique story full of twists and also a feeling of comfortable familiarity—it was easy to love these characters, to feel that they were family, to feel that this world could almost be real (though hopefully without the bloody plague). I also loved the way that the author incorporated her jewish heritage into the character of Seraphina. Jewish stories are so important, but outside of metaphor they’re not often found in the ya fantasy/horror genres. I think that it truly seemed thoughtfully discussed and important to the story, never forgotten but also never overtaking the central horror conflict. Overall I adored this book. It was horrifying in the best way, especially now we are living with covid’s impact. But as with all of Mara’s books, it was brimming with humanity.

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loreofthebooks's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Eldridge Hall was a castle built on lies.

Last year I had the absolute pleasure of reading The Poison Season! First off, thank you to Inkyard Press and Mara for a copy of this arc!

This book is for you if you like:

🌹 gothic
🌹 edgar allen poe
🌹 fantasy
🌹 low-romance books
🌹 mysteries
🌹 dark atmosphere
🌹 things that go bump in the night

First off, I loved the incorporation of Jews, and Jewish history into this book. When we talk about history and Jewish people we often think of the Holocaust, however, that wasn't the only time Jews were persecuted; it was as common in the Roman Period as it was in the Middle Ages even as it is (unfortunately) today. As Mara notes in her "A Letter from the Author",

I also discovered how Jews were historically blamed for many of them, and how they were slaughtered in pogroms as scapegoats.

While this book is a gothic fantasy, there are darker themes at play here, such as the pogroms mentioned in the book. There isn't gore in this book, but it is dark in the sense of what is happening.

Mara pulls from gothic traditions - manors and halls where not everything is as it seems. And yet, there is also the incorporation of the fantasy elements as well. There are monsters in this book

vampire-zombie things (now I'm calling it a zompire)

as well.

More gothic traditions are the omens -- the little songs the characters sing. The lack of birdsong, the dark woods etc. You can see how Poe and previous gothic writers have inspired her, because these elements were incorporated smoothly.

There was also the mystery aspects in this book, kind of like a locked room mystery, which I love. The way the characters are laid out, you don't know who to trust, except for our two main characters Nico and Seraphina and their helpers -- sidekicks? -- who are the ones the book focuses on.

There is quite a bit of action in this book, and not a whole lot of downtime. We swing from one arc to the next very smoothly, everything tied together.

The theme of lies and beauty is a theme in this book, which I loved. It helped add to the feel of the book for me. Mara's aesthetic and atmosphere is on point in this book. I literally had chills while I was reading some of it. It made me shiver. This book was everything gothic that I love.

It is going to be a perfect spooky, fall read. Imagine yourself curled up in a chair with a book, a cup of tea and some rain falling and you will not want to stop reading this book.

One last thing, there are some amazing lines in this book, and I've picked a few here for my review that aren't too spoiler-y, but you will be highlighting and marking so many on your read. (At least until you get so into the book you forget what you're doing, like me.)

And that was the most beautiful lie of all.

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