In an alternate late-eighteen-hundreds New York City, Judith Ban is finding her footing after fleeing her old life in Paris. An unusual offer from a wealthy woman gives Judith the opportunity to access power and prosperity, but she’ll have to risk her life and her sense of self to obtain them.
The Summary
As a storm rolls into New York, Judith Ban crosses the city to make a delivery to the home of Miss Iphegenia Marshall. Instead of finding the debutante, Judith meets her grandmother, Atalanta Howard, who offers Judith a generous sum to impersonate Ginny at a social gathering that evening. Exhausted but enticed by the money, Judith agrees and soon finds herself gowned and hidden behind a false face.
The event turns out to be a dinner party for several young society women who will be seeking husbands during the coming season. However, as Judith learns after witnessing the horrifying end to the evening, the men whose proposals the girls seek are only human in appearance.
With her granddaughter’s whereabouts still unknown, Mrs. Howard offers to extend Judith’s position in the hope that she can hold Ginny’s place until her return. With the offer of a hefty salary and a home of her own on the line, Judith agrees.
Standing in for Ginny is no simple task, however. Judith will have to dance with literal demons, compete with girls who have trained for years to enchant their dangerous suitors, and maintain her sense of identity while wearing another girl’s face. If she can make it to the Scarlet Ball and survive the final dance, she might win the greatest prize of all.
My Review
There were many things I enjoyed about The Scarlet Ball. In fact, I would say there wasn’t anything I particularly did not enjoy, just elements that I felt were underdeveloped and left the story feeling a bit lacking in certain areas.
First, I very much liked the overall concept. It felt unique to me, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The demon lords who come to court the young women are the embodiment of natural disastersโwildfires, floods, earthquakes, stormsโwhich was a take I haven’t seen before.
I also liked Judith as a protagonist. She’s bold and advocates for herself, at times perhaps putting herself in more danger than strictly necessary in an effort to come out on top. Her colorful past as a biracial orphaned convent girl turned courtesan made her feel three-dimensional while also giving her knowledge relevant to completing the tasks set for her by Mrs. Howard. The details were not just interesting, they helped move the story.
The world building was the first element where I had some trouble. Vo does not hold readers’ hands when it comes to introducing them to the alternate version of New York City where Judith lives. There’s nothing wrong with this strategy on its own, and I think it worked out well for the central magic system whereby the demon lords make contracts with the wealthy families and marry their daughters.
However, there were other magical elements that were briefly mentioned and never explainedโflaming packs of dogs roaming the streets, spells that turn girls into trees. It’s unclear how widespread magic is and who has access to it, which feels like important information to have in a book that deals with division between social classes, at least tangentially.
I also wanted Vo to explore race a bit more. Judith is half Vietnamese, and wears the face of a white girl in order to impersonate Ginny Marshall and gain entry to society. While this is explored periodically with brief moments of internal conflict for Judith, it didn’t play as prominent a role as I expected it to when I first read the book’s summary. I feel it could have been explored with more depth.
The secondary characters were also intriguing but slightly flat. The mysterious Mielleโa nonhuman lady’s maid of unspecified originโis endearing with her personality quirks and loyalty to Judith, but Vo’s writing style leaves a lot of unanswered questions about Mielle’s motivations.
Likewise, Judith’s eventual suitorโa storm who takes on the identity of a young man named Sebastian Roweโis repeatedly noted as being unusual in his behavior compared to the other demon lords. He is obsessed with Judith, but doesn’t seem to possess many qualities beyond that. They seem to love each other in a way, but Sebastian’s lack of character development makes it hard to understand the dynamics of their relationship or root for it.
Altogether, I think The Scarlet Ball is built on an excellent foundation, but could’ve used another draft to expand upon a few areas. I know from Vo’s other work that she’s capable of writing tightly contained but lush and complex worlds and characters, and I would’ve liked to see that skill exercised more here.
For that reason, I give The Scarlet Ball three stars.
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