Book Review- Masque of the Red Death

Early this morning, I finished reading Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From 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.

I had high hopes for this book because I saw some great reviews and it had a higher rating on Goodreads.  I should have known I wouldn't like it.  For some reason, I often don't like books that others raved about.

I hate writing negative reviews.  I really do.  I know that authors put sooo much hard work into their books and so I hate writing anything critical about them.  But I didn't really like anything about this book.  I couldn't stand any of the characters.  Araby was incredibly boring and uninteresting and I never found myself caring about what she was doing or what was happening to her.  And there was a love triangle, which I usually enjoy because I either feel so strongly for one of the guys or am torn because I love both of them.  But in this story, I didn't like either of the guys.  I thought they were both jerks and while Will's only redeeming quality was his love for his younger siblings, Elliott didn't have any good qualities.  Blah.

And the plot.  It as just so dark and gory and there was nothing that I found myself liking about it.  There was a big twist at the end but I really don't think it was well done.  It was too far fetched and not believable. 

Yeah, so I was truly disappointed in this book.  The ending leaves off like there will be a sequel, but if there is one, I won't be picking it up.

I gave this book a rating of 2/5.

Masque of the Red Death will be released on April 24, 2012.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 19
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 17
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 17

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.