You would think a book with this summary and supposedly based in the work of my beloved Poe would be good. You would be incorrect.

This story promises so much with such an interesting concept - but falls short of its delivery - 2.5 stars

First, let’s start with the world-building - I loved the idea of the Jewish representation done in a fantasy setting - but the execution felt incredibly simplistic. The world seems to model Europe around the time of the Black Plague, and centers around the antisemitism that was experienced - but neither Jewishness nor the antisemitism felt like a central part of the story… while also feeling like it was meant to be the entire point at the same time? This might just be my take, but I felt the story would have served better if it was more a historical retelling with the addition of fantasy elements, rather than a full fantasy setting with tidbits of realistic elements (realistic elements that are never fully explained or built out - all of the readers context is assumed by the author)

Ultimately, the plotting felt very heavy-handed - the main plot points felt disjointed at times and I had a hard time getting in the flow of what was unfolding.

The romance is very subplot, and while its progression did not feel overly organic - it was a nice addition to the storyline.

I unfortunately felt entirely removed from the characters, which I think was the biggest downfall of this book. They felt very surface and I was incapable of connecting with them.

And lastly, the pacing was a little slow and inconsistent - then we get a very fast-paced, almost rushed ending.

A massive thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGally for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was not what I expected it to be. I picked this up thinking it was going to give me a gothic, dark, and creepy vibes. Instead the execution was very simplistic and quite bland. It had so much potential with the plague and regency setting and I ended up not caring at all. It was also confusing at times and it was hard for me to feel present in the story. oh and there are vampires. I liked and appreciated the jewish representation.

Overall, it wasn't terrible, but not memorable. if you like Edgar Allen Poe, you might like this.

Goslind is hit hard by the mori roja plague, but instead of helping out, the king and his crew cozy up in the castle, ignoring the suffering outside. When the king's daughter succumbs to the illness, Seraphina steps in to pretend to be the princess, trying to keep the king from going off the deep end. After a few years of playing pretend, life inside the castle gets rough, and Seraphina is itching to escape, especially with food shortages, dwindling servants, and the king's worsening madness.

Nico Mott, immune to the mori roja, is a grave digger sent by Lord Crane to break into the castle. He discovers that some survivors are vampires, relying on the pure blood of the untouched Immaculates to stay alive. Now, Nico and his crew must warn the Immaculates and save Goslind from the bloodsuckers.

"A Multitude of Dreams" had potential with its intriguing plot of a plague turning people into vampires. However, the execution fell a bit flat, with overly resilient vampires and an underwhelming romance between Nico and Seraphina. While the book held attention, it left the feeling that something crucial was missing.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford is a darker YA fantasy standalone. This is a great book to read if you're looking for a dark, gothic, fantasy romance book. This is the perfect book if you're still looking for a fall book before the year is over! I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this book since it takes place during the black plague. I also enjoyed the romance between Seraphina and Nico. They were probably my favorite part of the book! If you have read and enjoyed Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz, then this book is definitely for you! Pick this up if you want a gothic fantasy romance with vampires!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a review!

It’s a fairly interesting retelling of an old story. It has a young adult twist, some cultural aspects, and a princess in the tower aspect.

But I also didn’t find it, particularly special or outstanding compared to other stories.

Unfortunately, I could not get into this book and ended up not completing it after about 20 percent. I thought the concept was interesting but it missed the mark for me. Others might find it interesting though, the writing was good.

Thanks Netgalley for the eARC

I love gothic literature and this book made me so excited to read modern gothic literature but I was just sort of shocked by the nonsensical nature of it. Like if we're in a mystical fantasy world that's not our own why are we emplying the usage of current bigoted idealogy in our society. It just felt like antisemitism was used as a tool and it was kind of a disservice to Jewish people, and the fact that the character was Jewish felt like it came out of nowhere in the first chapter. Like WHAT? I really feel like if the author wanted to do a service for Jewish representation there would have been better ways to do it than invent a new world so far removed from ours, and put Jewish people and their historical struggles in it. It just felt like nonsensical and tone deaf milking of the struggles faced by an entire ethnic group.

4/5 Stars + 0/5 Spice

- Young Adult Gothic Fantasy
- Mystery
- Romantic Subplot
- Dual POV

Thank you to NetGalley, Inkyard Press, and the author, Mara Rutherford, for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

This story is inspired by The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe. It is a young adult, gothic fantasy with many twists and turns throughout that keep you guessing.

This story follows our FMC, Seraphina, and our MMC, Nico, as they navigate a world wrought by a plague. The story is revealed through dual POVs which I love and a parallel storyline through which their world is revealed.

There is Jewish representation, and rather than alluding to Jews in the form of a new religion for the sake of it being a fantasy book, the author kept it true to what we know today, as historically Jews were often blamed for plagues. I really enjoyed this integration of Judaism and highlighting this part of their history I was previously ignorant of. Although it felt odd at first to read about Judaism in an otherwise, completely fantasy based story, I ended up really enjoying this method of representation.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the way the plot twists were revealed. This book does not present all the information to you up front. You discover more and more as you read, it was an incredibly atmospheric and beautiful way to world build. As the author states at the beginning of the book: “Just be careful whom you trust, because nothing between these pages is as it seems…”, and boy, is that the truth!

Reading about a plague after experiencing a worldwide pandemic feels different. Previous to our own experience with a plague, it felt like a fantastical notion in and of itself. This very real, and recent experience brought a whole new element to reading this story. I truly felt as though I could relate and empathize with many of the emotions they were having.

If you like YA Gothic Fantasy and are looking to read a book that will keep you guessing throughout, I highly recommend you give this one a try!

#amultitudeofdreams #NetGalley

4/5 ⭐️

A Multitude of Dreams is an intriguing Gothic fantasy, perfect for the upcoming spooky season. Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and the Black Death, it also delves into Jewish history and the anti-Semitism they were targeted with during that time period, with them used as scapegoats to blame for the plague. Mara Rutherford weaves the historical inspirations into this Gothic-inspired world, interweaving vampires and zombies into the narrative. There’s also the atmospheric Gothic castle, isolated from the plague, and it’s so fascinating to delve into.

Very good writing and character development. The atmospheric gothic setting makes it perfectly for spooky season. The thing that push it back to 4 stars for me was the ending it felt a bit rushed but overall a very good YA fantasy.

Dark and unique, this wasn't my favorite Rutherford read, but definitely had enough mystery to keep me interested.

3.5/5 stars

quick thoughts:

i enjoyed the book and would recommend it for people who are looking for a quick fantasy read with a somber, eerie, post-apocalyptic vibe and a dash of fright.

longer review:

after months of procrastinating i finally picked this book up, and surprisingly, it only took me a few days to finish it!

in my initial review/thoughts, i had mentioned the term "slow-burn". what i meant by that was that there was a tension that slowly climbed throughout the story. that tension was probably my favorite part of the book, as it made me want to keep reading and not stop until i finish. once you get through the first act, the story unfolded pretty quickly (for a high fantasy book).

the shining jewel of the book was definitely seraphina. her backstory was heartbreaking, and i really liked her strength of character that was demonstrated in different ways. some of the other characters had depth, but others felt almost cartoonish (which i didn't mind but i know is a big issue for other people).

the main storyline (iykyk) was very fun for me to read. there were a few other threads throughout the book that i thought would lead somewhere, only to end up going nowhere, so that was a bit disappointing.

towards the end of the book i just wanted the tension to be released, so even though the climax was quite underwhelming, i wasn't mad about it.

thank you to inkyard press and netgalley for providing this arc!

I was very excited for this book. The description was great! I've heard so many great things about the author and I own others of her books. This novel however started very slow and there wasn't enough worldbuilding. The main character was Jewish but it felt very fantasy genre, not realism fantasy. (Not saying I have anything against the religion, just that it didn't feel like this was based on any 'real' life things.) I did become a bit intrigued with the story once Seraphina started to see the issues and Nico got into the castle. The interest dwindle pretty quickly. There was a lot of talking and walking but not really much action. The punches didn't feel well versed. I was hoping it would be a great spooky read but for myself, it fell short.

I have loved Mara's other books and was so looking forward to this one but it just didn't do it for me. While I thought the world building was very well done the romance in the book felt super forced. It ended up being just an okay read for me.

So I was excited to read more from Mara Rutherford, since A Poison Season was not my favorite, and this one was certainly interesting.......but for a story that has Vampires as the bad guy....they weren't very scary and I never felt like they were going to win the conflict. The friendships were the highlight of the story while the actual relationship bits were...flat....
A great premise but it just was not for me as I don't think there was enough depth in plot/character/or world building

Spooky fall vibe turned up on this one! This is my first book by Maura Rutherford and I’m obsessed. First of this over is stunning!! I think it will pop on any bookshelf this fall and will be a great Halloween read. This story was very intrigue and I couldn’t put it down. All of the characters were really thought out and kept me in the story until the very end. I can’t wait for more from Maura Rutherford. She is in her spooky autumn girl bag!

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

I actually really liked this one! It was an interesting new take (or at least new for me) about the creation of vampires, or as they’re called in the book, the reborn. While it was a fantasy novel, it didn’t have the never ending world building that I’ve usually found in fantasy books. Instead, the author did an amazing job of building the world while keeping me ingrained in the plot! I thoroughly enjoyed this!

A plague, a mad King and the undead … you’ve got my attention! Pulling inspiration from the great Poe, Rutherford brings the eerie tension to life as we follow our main characters to a world where not everything or anyone is not what it seems. Truly enjoyed reading till the very end however, in my opinion some aspects of the story were plopped within the story rather than woven through. One of those examples is the Jewish representation, I would have loved to see it as a bigger part of the main characters story then just a matter of fact moments when discussing her past and it having no effect on her or the story during critical events. Other plops include a couple of characters, some particularly adorable felines and smaller things that could’ve made the eye for detail increase greatly. Do not get me wrong, I still rather enjoyed this book and will recommend this to readers looking for the perfect plague doctor Poe vibes.

I kept trying to pick this one up but it’s not connecting. DNF for me but would try another book by the author.