I was disappointed with the sequel to the Masque of the Red Death; I almost rated this three stars as it wasn't too bad throughout (until I really got into writing this review), but the ending itself deserved a star knocked off. I couldn't help but get the feeling that this was part of the first book originally and it should've been a standalone, as this lacked the usual feeling of the second part of a series; I feel like it would've left a better feeling had it just been one novel instead, but with the ending shaped better.

The novel left me confused at the beginning. Even though I had read the first part of the series just over six months ago, I was left without much of a memory of the plot and characters (perhaps that's my problem, but I don't usually have problems with migrating information from novel to novel even if years pass) and the novel did nothing to help with that. Normally a few things are rehashed in the beginning to remind people of what's going on, but the hints were so small and things that were mentioned were already important enough to remember that I was left wondering whether I should reread the first one again - and so close to the original read through. I really felt like I was at a loss, because I was excited and then I couldn't even remember which man I was rooting for, and some characters (like Kent and Thom) just left me grasping at vague - if any - hints about who they were in the last novel. This is why I said that the entire series felt like it was one novel, because it wasn't unified properly and the structure itself didn't solve enough in both novels to make it make sense; to me, it would have been much better just left as a standalone and more rounded out.

The characters' interactions were poor, they didn't really have lives outside of Araby's connections to them, and they felt to one-sided with their anger and sorrow just taking over without any brain behind it. Araby was the worst character to put up with in general, and I found it harder and harder to like Will and Elliot even though they were great - and solidly built - in the first book. But Will and Elliot's interactions alone were terrible, as they agreed but disagreed (I'll help only to be around Araby and protect you from him), they worked together then grumbled (or vice versa, like Will printing those election pamphlets to keep him away from tyranny even though people will still vote for him), they fought heads really only because of the main love interest, and it was them just competing on camera for Araby no matter what they were doing - even trying to win the revolution.

The plot itself was not complex enough, either. It deserved more attention to it, but in the end it felt like it was really about Araby's love interests and her hating and trying to justify her father and his actions. The characters ran here and there efficiently, following the outline nicely, but there was nothing deeper; there were barely any subplots, things that got in the way were dealt with too quickly, and everything was rushed through. The story wasn't really about the plague, the citizens, or the world in the end, it was about Araby and what she wanted - and not in the usual main character way.

There was nothing really noble about her actions and it felt like it was driven too much on selfish desire - something that I had hoped she would have grown out of in this second part. But her monologues were even more annoying than usual, decisions were made really thoughtlessly, not enough time was spent on major plot points (which made me believe some parts should've been left out entirely, like the maids trying to selflessly - and mindlessly - help her out of Prospero's castle or Prospero having her publicly hanged), and I got nothing out of it in the end. I can't even say I'm satisfied with her man choice, as she came to it too quickly, forgave thoughtlessly, and there was just no build up to it. Even as YA, this falls flat.

Araby became overcome with passion far too often to make her useful or noble, too (and she spent far too many passionate moments with Elliot to have ended up with Will for it to make sense, more so when she was overcome with lust at the end when her mother found them which made her seem even more shallow to me), and try as she might to care for Will's siblings, April, and maybe the citizens, sometimes she was far too overcome with guilt (and rage), too stupid to make proper decisions, and too focused on pretty things to even be necessary in her own story. The pretty things were definitely described well, though, so at least the upper class living in luxury was shown nicely, but it just felt like a mindless woman trying too hard to save the day and yet still relying on all the men around her to do things before she's pushed to make more stupid decisions. She had at least gotten past her brother's death in this book, at least not to be suicidal and a downer like before, but her oh-woe-is-me attitude about everything in her life, and also everyone around her, just killed the enjoyment the previous book brought me.

The ending was terrible, too. Prospero's death, and cowardly end, was too quickly solved - and having Araby be the one to kill him, instead of Elliot, just felt like it was the main character taking the limelight away from the rightful killer (from how the character was shown to me, I don't think Elliot really would've balked at the task). Her father's capture, as well as Malcontent's end (and nothing about the father-son relationship being explained there), and the city's ability to get back on its feet, was just wrapped up too neatly and in a disappointing way. Everything was too quickly solved, really, and the flow towards the end was terrible. They were still in Prospero's castle when I saw how little there was left to read, and it was too convenient that everything fell into place so nicely in less than forty pages (like what to do about "the scientist", how to deal with Prospero and Malcontent, how to cure the water supply, what's going to happen with April, who is Araby going to love, and so on). It also ended too quickly to leave a satisfied conclusion for me, In fact, the last lines - the entire scene, really - just felt too abrupt as though the max word count were hit and there was nothing to do about it. I don't want the city to be a utopia when I'm done reading, but I expect to be satisfied about the end and what's going to be done, like how the characters end up (what Araby and Elliot's relationship is, for example), who's in real control of the city, what's going to happen with the scientist and the reverend, etc. It was a necessary "cliffhanger" style ending that didn't end the novel in a literary or satisfying fashion at all, and as I said in the beginning that alone knocked of a star for the rating. Solve things, don't leave them hanging - the world should still exist when I close the books, but not like that - not without fixing what caused the novel to come about in the first place.

I didn't want to be disappointed with this novel as I really enjoyed the first one and wanted to enjoy this one too, but the more I spent writing this review the more I remembered my disappointment with it and I feel like it deserved the rating it got. Perhaps the next time I try this series I'll read both books in one go, but I don't think that'll fix anything for me - it wasn't my memory that ruined the read for me, it was the lack of unification that novels usually get so right even when everything else, like characters and some plot aspects, aren't as tight.