Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
In this twist on Edgar Allen Poe's gothic short story, a wealthy teenaged girl who can afford a special mask to protect her from the plague that decimated humanity in the mid-1800s, falls in love, becomes caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow an oppressive government, and faces the threat of a new plague.
Is Masque of the Red Death appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 14 and up.
Parents should know this dark fantasy retelling features a deadly plague setting with mass death, class oppression, political conspiracy, and a teenage romance. The gothic atmosphere includes disturbing imagery and themes of mortality.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, mild sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, mass death, and plague/epidemic (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will be drawn to the forbidden romance, class rebellion, and dark atmospheric reimagining of Poe's classic tale with a strong female protagonist.