Nghi Vo stories always find a way to sink their teeth into me and never let go. The Scarlet Ball is my favorite story yet. Vo’s mesmerizing prose and dark, magical world lured me right in and enticed me even further with demon lords who can make your every wish come true.
The storm rolls in, and packs of wild fire dogs roam the streets in late 1800s New York City as Judith Ban makes a delivery to the Howards family. Upon entering the stately home, Judith’s poise and cleverness catch the matriarch’s eye, and a dangerous deal unfolds. Mrs. Howard’s granddaughter has gone missing, and she needs a stand-in for her granddaughter as the season to court demon lords begins. In exchange for a secure future, Judith enters the deadly game wearing the granddaughter’s stolen face and will dance with dark powers, hoping the world and its monsters don’t consume her first.
Judith is clever and has an edge that allows her to navigate high society and demon lords with ease. Despite all her bravado, she is terrified, and I love the moments where Judith’s fear comes to the surface. Those scenes are like a wake-up call, reminding you that for all the beautiful people and their wealth, the darkness is still there, and it will consume you if you’re not careful. Vo’s world is so layered, showing the mundane, insidious trappings of the wealthy, but then she raises the stakes by adding demon lords who make that glamorous life even more precarious.
As with most of Vo’s protagonists, Judith is an outsider welcomed into the realm of the rich and powerful. No one will open a door for a poor Vietnamese girl, but when she becomes the Howards’s granddaughter, all that changes because her face is white and there is money behind her borrowed name. Throughout the story, Judith slowly loses herself and forgets that her true face and identity are lying underneath. The horror of this predicament is that Judith isn’t changing her personality; she is erasing the physical characteristics and parts of her that have shaped and defined her. Even though Judith easily fits in with these conniving aristocrats, she is ultimately abandoning herself to assimilate into the same type of people who are born and bred to reject someone like Judith. But a pretty white face can only mean so much when there was a whole world of experiences and perceptions that shaped the young Vietnamese woman. Judith is just as capable and cunning enough to entice the demon lords, but she can’t erase the truth of who she is, and it will be her greatest strength when it comes to this dangerous dance.
A characteristic I’ve come to love in Vo’s historical fantasy books is the way she folds magic into the world. Magic is never the focal point; it’s always a dark trimming on the story that Vo is telling. And the magical touches perfectly highlight just how dark, dangerous, and alluring the world is. The Scarlet Ball does this beautifully. Judith’s borrowed face gets her into the room, but the focus remains on how she navigates the new power and influence that it gives her. Vo also uses magic to highlight the horrific power and indulgences of the wealthy, from the decadent plant life on display in the dead of winter to the beautiful songbirds that are sacrificed to give young women new voices.
Each new release from Nghi Vo just gets better and better. The Scarlet Ball is intoxicating, and I was pulled in and blinded by its glamor just as Judith was.
Rating: The Scarlet Ball – 10/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
