A Multitude of Dreams is a dark, gothic YA novel that is inspired by "The Masque of Red Death" by Edgar Allen Poe. Expect vampires in this book, but not in the way you are used to.

A devastating plague, the mori roja, has cut through the kingdom of Gosling, leaving only those immune or quarantined surviving. Princess Imogen, the youngest of four daughters of King Stuart, has been stuck in the castle with all of the king's court for the last three years. King Stuart is descending into madness, and all she wants to do is leave the palace. Imogen is hiding a secret, she is not truly the Princess Imogen, but Seraphina, a Jewish girl who is forced to masquerade in front of the nobles. Nicodemus Mott was a noble before the plague, but after losing his family and everyone around him, he finds himself rescued from starvation from Lord Crane. Nico works as a gravedigger for Crane and a servant of his household. Crane sends Nico to search for survivors in the castle, where he meets with Seraphina. They both discover horrors and mysteries they must navigate and face together. 
 
What I really, really liked about this book was the uniqueness of the setting and overall atmosphere. It is a YA story, but there are elements of horror and the author does an amazing job of incorporating an eerie atmosphere. This book does not shy away from the darker parts and effects of a plague, such as burying the bodies, the isolation, and the grief and loss of family and community. It also showed the gaudiness of the nobles and how they lived in excess while they shut off the rest of the kingdom to suffer. The plot is very unpredictable and twisty, I seriously could not guess where this book was going. This isn't a book about revitalizing the kingdom or taking rule, but just individual people who just want to survive and be free. 

We do get introduced to vampires in this book, but the author treats them as horrifying as they truly are. Blood-sucking creatures that survive any wounds and crawl around at night, searching for their next victim. They are truly monsters, and our first encounter in the book with one was actually pretty scary. 

The author did note that many parts of this book illustrate anti-semitism towards the Jewish community, as they were often accused of creating the Black Plague that this is based on and many prejudices are still weaved into this world. 

I will say the characters weren't necessarily my favorite part of the story, and didn't exactly stand out to me. Seraphina is very brash, but smart and able to put on a performance as she's had to in the last three years. Nico tries to as ethical as possible and truly tries his best to save people and do the right thing, which ties into his passion for being a physician. Their motivations were very straight forward and I felt they were your typical YA main characters. The romance felt a little rushed at the end as well, where they suddenly became very interested in each other rather than intrigued and caring about each other. The romance is a very small subplot in this story though. 

Overall, I just loved the overall setting and how the author incorporated different plot lines. It kept me on my feet and immersed within the writing. If you like dark, YA fairy tales, this is for you!

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!