What do you think?
Rate this book
The Scarlet Ball
Not yet published
Expected 6 Oct 26From USA Today bestselling author Nghi Vo, this all-consuming tale of ballrooms and bloodshed weds The Gilded Age with the Gothic vision of Guillermo del Toro.
Pick a face, pick a fate.
Judith Ban, former convent girl, courtesan, and failed thief, is on the lookout for her next identity. The daughter of a Vietnamese adventuress and a French naval officer, she’s no stranger to risk, but she’s unprepared for the secrets of New York’s legendary Four Hundred, or for the women who build their power at the city’s heart through blood-soaked, gold-etched rituals of demonic marriage.
In exchange for enough wealth to outrun her past, Judith strikes a deal with the matriarch of the powerful Howard family: she will stand in for the missing Howard granddaughter, who was poised to make her debut when she disappeared. With Miss Iphigenia Marshall’s face stitched over her own, Judith is white, rich, and about to risk body and soul in the deadly games that determine which girls will find a match—and which will be devoured. If she can keep her wits and her life, her reward will be a husband with undreamt-of power who will be hers to command... so long as she can keep his infinite hungers fed. But to survive the season, Judith will have to seduce a storm in the shape of a man, before the night to which everything has been leading—the Scarlet Ball where the demons choose their brides.
A razor-sharp subversion of romance tropes and nightmare of manners, Vo's fusion of history and fantasy does for Edith Wharton what her acclaimed debut The Chosen and the Beautiful did for F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Pick a face, pick a fate.
Judith Ban, former convent girl, courtesan, and failed thief, is on the lookout for her next identity. The daughter of a Vietnamese adventuress and a French naval officer, she’s no stranger to risk, but she’s unprepared for the secrets of New York’s legendary Four Hundred, or for the women who build their power at the city’s heart through blood-soaked, gold-etched rituals of demonic marriage.
In exchange for enough wealth to outrun her past, Judith strikes a deal with the matriarch of the powerful Howard family: she will stand in for the missing Howard granddaughter, who was poised to make her debut when she disappeared. With Miss Iphigenia Marshall’s face stitched over her own, Judith is white, rich, and about to risk body and soul in the deadly games that determine which girls will find a match—and which will be devoured. If she can keep her wits and her life, her reward will be a husband with undreamt-of power who will be hers to command... so long as she can keep his infinite hungers fed. But to survive the season, Judith will have to seduce a storm in the shape of a man, before the night to which everything has been leading—the Scarlet Ball where the demons choose their brides.
A razor-sharp subversion of romance tropes and nightmare of manners, Vo's fusion of history and fantasy does for Edith Wharton what her acclaimed debut The Chosen and the Beautiful did for F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 6, 2026
About the author
Nghi Vo
42 books4,519 followersNghi Vo is the author of the acclaimed novellas The Empress of Salt and Fortune and When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind. The Chosen and the Beautiful is her debut novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Read
April 12, 2026I couldn't be more thrilled to share the blurb I wrote for this beauty with you all!
“After reading The Scarlet Ball, one has to wonder whether Vo is a witch herself, perhaps married not to a flood or wildfire but a demon of stories and genius. The Scarlet Ball is so utterly original, so spellbinding, so effortlessly plotted and so gorgeously written, it's hard to believe a mere mortal could write it, and yet she did, and I stand in awe of it and her."
“After reading The Scarlet Ball, one has to wonder whether Vo is a witch herself, perhaps married not to a flood or wildfire but a demon of stories and genius. The Scarlet Ball is so utterly original, so spellbinding, so effortlessly plotted and so gorgeously written, it's hard to believe a mere mortal could write it, and yet she did, and I stand in awe of it and her."
Want to Read
March 7, 2026(me 🤝🏻 everything Nghi Vo writes)
Definitely one of my most anticipated releases of 2026!
Definitely one of my most anticipated releases of 2026!
Want to Read
March 18, 2026bro you know i'll read whatever she writes but the plague of bad covers is killing me. what is this.
Want to Read
April 2, 2026oh my god is this going to be in the vein of siren queen (aka my favorite favorite nghi vo book)? GIVE IT TO MEEEEE
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It's a book for monster fuckers, but if the monster you want to fuck is a wildfire or a forest or a mudslide or a storm.
This is already on track to be my favourite new book of the year. It's brilliant: fun and weird and sexy and full of ideas about the cruelty of the world and what it takes to survive. Most of the time when I read a book that has romantic elements like this one does, I have a rough sense of where it's going, what the end-goal is, and I simply never did here. It kept me on my toes, kept me laughing, kept me wondering at the beauty of the prose and the delight of the ideas.
I have complained previously about Vo's books that they leave me wanting more: I find her Singing Hills novellas a little bit plot-light for me, and while The City in Glass was excellent, it left me wanting just a little bit more character development and a little bit more time with the world. The Scarlet Ball leaves me fully sated. All the core cast of characters (and plenty of the bit players) are painted beautifully, fleshed out and understandable even if they are inhuman and incomprehensible. I have held up American Elsewhere as an exemplar of making the unknowable extradimensional Lovecraftian horrors relatable and understandable, and The Scarlet Ball does that as well; it's weird, the way The Library at Mount Char or a China Mieville novel is weird, full of cruel and beautiful magic and the sense that the world is wider than can be contained within the pages of a single book.
In Twilight, Stephanie Meyer asked what it would be like for a mortal woman to become the target of affection for a beautiful, powerful, immortal man, and then went on to mostly use it as a wish fulfillment fantasy and not examine it any more deeply. Vo, on the other hand, takes the time to look at the way that any woman being pursued by a man, even a human one, needs to manage the threat of violence and a societal power disparity, and the text makes it clear that our protagonist being aware of the danger to her life from interacting with a man is not something that is a new experience simply because that man is a literal demon. It's a great exploration of the idea of women exerting power in the world through their husbands, and it does that thing I love so much about speculative fiction where it makes a metaphor literal, in this case the yoking of a man to one's will and the trading of one's body for power. It's worth remembering that that sort of arrangement can only work until it doesn't, and that playing those games and winning for a while still requires living in a world where those sorts of power structures exist and do people harm. There's also examination of racial tokenisation and the experience of interacting with a caricature of oneself, as our narrator is an outsider again and again.
For all that thematic meat, it's worth noting that this is a book which is a whole hell of a lot of fun. We get to have our cake and eat it too: getting a critique of a world of opulence doesn't stop us from getting the wish fulfillment fantasy of living in that world of opulence, with beautiful houses and clothes and food abounding. Getting a critique of upper crust relationship dynamics, the sort of thing that Natalie Wynn calls Default Heterosexual Sado-Masochism, doesn't stop this from delighting the reader with a genuinely steamy romance. If you like proper fantasy world-building, if you like fairy-tale romance, if you like a thrill to your novels, you'll find it all here. I had a huge amount of fun reading this book, and I'm sure that I'm going to re-read it some time soon.
This is already on track to be my favourite new book of the year. It's brilliant: fun and weird and sexy and full of ideas about the cruelty of the world and what it takes to survive. Most of the time when I read a book that has romantic elements like this one does, I have a rough sense of where it's going, what the end-goal is, and I simply never did here. It kept me on my toes, kept me laughing, kept me wondering at the beauty of the prose and the delight of the ideas.
I have complained previously about Vo's books that they leave me wanting more: I find her Singing Hills novellas a little bit plot-light for me, and while The City in Glass was excellent, it left me wanting just a little bit more character development and a little bit more time with the world. The Scarlet Ball leaves me fully sated. All the core cast of characters (and plenty of the bit players) are painted beautifully, fleshed out and understandable even if they are inhuman and incomprehensible. I have held up American Elsewhere as an exemplar of making the unknowable extradimensional Lovecraftian horrors relatable and understandable, and The Scarlet Ball does that as well; it's weird, the way The Library at Mount Char or a China Mieville novel is weird, full of cruel and beautiful magic and the sense that the world is wider than can be contained within the pages of a single book.
In Twilight, Stephanie Meyer asked what it would be like for a mortal woman to become the target of affection for a beautiful, powerful, immortal man, and then went on to mostly use it as a wish fulfillment fantasy and not examine it any more deeply. Vo, on the other hand, takes the time to look at the way that any woman being pursued by a man, even a human one, needs to manage the threat of violence and a societal power disparity, and the text makes it clear that our protagonist being aware of the danger to her life from interacting with a man is not something that is a new experience simply because that man is a literal demon. It's a great exploration of the idea of women exerting power in the world through their husbands, and it does that thing I love so much about speculative fiction where it makes a metaphor literal, in this case the yoking of a man to one's will and the trading of one's body for power. It's worth remembering that that sort of arrangement can only work until it doesn't, and that playing those games and winning for a while still requires living in a world where those sorts of power structures exist and do people harm. There's also examination of racial tokenisation and the experience of interacting with a caricature of oneself, as our narrator is an outsider again and again.
For all that thematic meat, it's worth noting that this is a book which is a whole hell of a lot of fun. We get to have our cake and eat it too: getting a critique of a world of opulence doesn't stop us from getting the wish fulfillment fantasy of living in that world of opulence, with beautiful houses and clothes and food abounding. Getting a critique of upper crust relationship dynamics, the sort of thing that Natalie Wynn calls Default Heterosexual Sado-Masochism, doesn't stop this from delighting the reader with a genuinely steamy romance. If you like proper fantasy world-building, if you like fairy-tale romance, if you like a thrill to your novels, you'll find it all here. I had a huge amount of fun reading this book, and I'm sure that I'm going to re-read it some time soon.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.5 stars rounded up to 5
Nghi Vo wastes no time in introducing us to the otherworldly aspects of The Scarlet Ball's New York. Despite the quick introduction of eerie and magical elements, and Judith's rapid involvement with the Howards, the beginning of the book felt like a slow burn. The stage was set, and I was certainly intrigued, but it took me some time to feel a stronger connection to the characters and to understand the stakes that Judith is up against. Once Judith starts putting pieces together then we are really off running, and I couldn’t help but devour the rest of the story.
There is an almost dream-like quality to Vo’s writing, flowing easily between the uncanny and the real. Gore and beauty alike are well described, with lush details around Judith’s ball gowns and the environments she finds herself in. I love the complexity of Judith’s character, the gradual reveal of her past, and the way her previous lives inform how she handles the bizarre entanglements of demons, dancing, and debutantes. Despite this story being centered around young women being matched with demon men, there is a queer element threaded throughout as well, and I found myself particularly drawn in by those moments.
Outside of the glitz and glam, we also get Judith’s sharp observations of the inequality prevalent at this time. Shop girls underpaid and mistreated by cruel mistresses, the danger and tension still present despite moving towards desegregation, and the dark contrast of fetishization and identity are all intermingled with magic and ritual. Vo balances such a heavy variety of topics well, and nothing feels forced or out of place.
Taken all together, The Scarlet Ball is a whirlwind of mysteries and dangers, with a main character passionate enough to rival the worst storms. I highly recommend it to readers fond of dark magic, period piece dramas, and unique and complicated characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the digital ARC!
Nghi Vo wastes no time in introducing us to the otherworldly aspects of The Scarlet Ball's New York. Despite the quick introduction of eerie and magical elements, and Judith's rapid involvement with the Howards, the beginning of the book felt like a slow burn. The stage was set, and I was certainly intrigued, but it took me some time to feel a stronger connection to the characters and to understand the stakes that Judith is up against. Once Judith starts putting pieces together then we are really off running, and I couldn’t help but devour the rest of the story.
There is an almost dream-like quality to Vo’s writing, flowing easily between the uncanny and the real. Gore and beauty alike are well described, with lush details around Judith’s ball gowns and the environments she finds herself in. I love the complexity of Judith’s character, the gradual reveal of her past, and the way her previous lives inform how she handles the bizarre entanglements of demons, dancing, and debutantes. Despite this story being centered around young women being matched with demon men, there is a queer element threaded throughout as well, and I found myself particularly drawn in by those moments.
Outside of the glitz and glam, we also get Judith’s sharp observations of the inequality prevalent at this time. Shop girls underpaid and mistreated by cruel mistresses, the danger and tension still present despite moving towards desegregation, and the dark contrast of fetishization and identity are all intermingled with magic and ritual. Vo balances such a heavy variety of topics well, and nothing feels forced or out of place.
Taken all together, The Scarlet Ball is a whirlwind of mysteries and dangers, with a main character passionate enough to rival the worst storms. I highly recommend it to readers fond of dark magic, period piece dramas, and unique and complicated characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the digital ARC!
May 23, 2026
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerhouse for a review copy of this book. I have to say I really didn’t realise there was a horror fantasy genre and it wouldn’t ordinarily be my first choice, but there is something about Nghi Vo’s creative and skilled writing that captured my attention and had me entering the bizarre and strange world she wove into the Gilded Age of New York’s socialites. In some ways you could see it as a social commentary with actual monsters and stitched on masks/faces for those who make up its elites.
Judith Ban, a woman of indeterminate Asian heritage is a seamstress with a few dubious previous identities, is delivering a gown to the address of one of the social elites of the city when she’s caught up in a web of deception that forces her to pose as the granddaughter of the household, to attend critical social events to secure one of the available powerful men as a husband. To convince the socialites that she is indeed Iphegenia, the grandmother stitches a copy of her face onto Judith’s as well as extensive training in all the social niceties and behaviour as Judith learns that selection of men from which she is meant to obtain a husband are not actually human, but monstrous powerful forces of nature like fire and water. Judith realises the game is deadlier than she first thought and that though there may be an ultimate prize for her or Iphegenia, she wonders at the cost.
The novel is clever, twisted and compelling in a horrifying way and Judith is the perfect creation to weather the path she’s chosen, or in some ways forced to choose. The underlying symbolism is in some ways part of the horror that is actually enacted on the page. This book has some points that are horror filled, but also drive home so much more and give the reader an absorbing and really compelling read.
Judith Ban, a woman of indeterminate Asian heritage is a seamstress with a few dubious previous identities, is delivering a gown to the address of one of the social elites of the city when she’s caught up in a web of deception that forces her to pose as the granddaughter of the household, to attend critical social events to secure one of the available powerful men as a husband. To convince the socialites that she is indeed Iphegenia, the grandmother stitches a copy of her face onto Judith’s as well as extensive training in all the social niceties and behaviour as Judith learns that selection of men from which she is meant to obtain a husband are not actually human, but monstrous powerful forces of nature like fire and water. Judith realises the game is deadlier than she first thought and that though there may be an ultimate prize for her or Iphegenia, she wonders at the cost.
The novel is clever, twisted and compelling in a horrifying way and Judith is the perfect creation to weather the path she’s chosen, or in some ways forced to choose. The underlying symbolism is in some ways part of the horror that is actually enacted on the page. This book has some points that are horror filled, but also drive home so much more and give the reader an absorbing and really compelling read.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
In turns incisive, vulnerable, vindictive, and sensual, The Scarlet Ball is a feast for every sense, and especially for fear. Vo presents a scathing criticism of the cannibalistic nature of the ruling class and simultaneously a toothsome exploration of the pursuit of power.
Judith is an endlessly fascinating main character: a girl on the run from her past, a skilled worker struggling to make ends meet, an immigrant woman who must wear any number of masks to survive (and conquer) the hegemonic hostility of historic New York. As complex as Judith is, Sebastian is equivalently hollow. He is more of a concept and an urge than a character, and this very much seems to be the point.
At every step of this book, Judith's actions must answer questions about what she is willing to sacrifice and whether she is pursuing survival or dominance. Each answer tells us more about who she is becoming, and that richness, wine-like, complexifies as it goes on.
If you come to this book looking for a bone-chilling exploration of hunger and a dash of paranormal romance, you are in the right place. I was riveted.
Judith is an endlessly fascinating main character: a girl on the run from her past, a skilled worker struggling to make ends meet, an immigrant woman who must wear any number of masks to survive (and conquer) the hegemonic hostility of historic New York. As complex as Judith is, Sebastian is equivalently hollow. He is more of a concept and an urge than a character, and this very much seems to be the point.
At every step of this book, Judith's actions must answer questions about what she is willing to sacrifice and whether she is pursuing survival or dominance. Each answer tells us more about who she is becoming, and that richness, wine-like, complexifies as it goes on.
If you come to this book looking for a bone-chilling exploration of hunger and a dash of paranormal romance, you are in the right place. I was riveted.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Rating – 4.5/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC!
This one really surprised me. When I first started reading, I wasn’t entirely sure it was going to be for me—the tone felt quite horror-leaning, and I wasn’t immediately drawn in. But the story quickly became very captivating and ended up pulling me in much more than I expected.
I really appreciated the depth of the characters, and especially the way the book explores moral grey areas and power structures, and how those lines can blur or be twisted. It felt thoughtful, unusual, and genuinely quite thought-provoking in a way that stayed with me after finishing.
The plot was also very unpredictable, which made it even more engaging as it went on. Overall, a really strong and memorable read that completely won me over by the end. Definitely one I’d recommend!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC!
This one really surprised me. When I first started reading, I wasn’t entirely sure it was going to be for me—the tone felt quite horror-leaning, and I wasn’t immediately drawn in. But the story quickly became very captivating and ended up pulling me in much more than I expected.
I really appreciated the depth of the characters, and especially the way the book explores moral grey areas and power structures, and how those lines can blur or be twisted. It felt thoughtful, unusual, and genuinely quite thought-provoking in a way that stayed with me after finishing.
The plot was also very unpredictable, which made it even more engaging as it went on. Overall, a really strong and memorable read that completely won me over by the end. Definitely one I’d recommend!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I want to preface this by saying that this book is NOT for me. But, even still, the writing pulled me in and was so beautiful (if a bit repetitive toward the last quarter of the book). I was nervous about DNFing in the beginning as the prose was much more dense than I expected but either I got used to it or the author found a better rhythm.
Also didn't realize that many of the reveals are spoiled by the summary which is a wild choice to make when the reveals are so dramatically done in the book itself.
Loved the nods to queerdom even in this extremely hetero romance book (yes, bisexuality exists and is valid but the lead never qualifies her own sexuality for better or worse).
Now, how do I fuck a storm?
Also didn't realize that many of the reveals are spoiled by the summary which is a wild choice to make when the reveals are so dramatically done in the book itself.
Loved the nods to queerdom even in this extremely hetero romance book (yes, bisexuality exists and is valid but the lead never qualifies her own sexuality for better or worse).
Now, how do I fuck a storm?
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Knowing this authors writing, I went in expecting that it wouldn't be a 'romantasy' or even very romantic - and in my opinion, it isn't - but I do wish for the author's sake that the cover didn't try to represent those themes as much.
The prose, as always, is beautiful and immersive. My biggest issue is clarity (to be fair I've had this issue with Vo's writing before) where some things are glossed over or mentioned and then forgotten. The novel starts slow, but it did keep me intrigued and hooked until the end. I wished for more focus on characters rather than dress and aesthetic descriptions, but at least the writing was pretty throughout.
The prose, as always, is beautiful and immersive. My biggest issue is clarity (to be fair I've had this issue with Vo's writing before) where some things are glossed over or mentioned and then forgotten. The novel starts slow, but it did keep me intrigued and hooked until the end. I wished for more focus on characters rather than dress and aesthetic descriptions, but at least the writing was pretty throughout.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I enjoyed Vo's novellas before but this full-length novel absolutely blew me away. It's a lush and original period fantasy with a truly fascinating and formidable main character in Judith Ban. It began quite slowly, but for me the beautiful descriptive writing and atmosphere was enough to carry the narrative until it picked up momentum. It handles the issues of power, social class, identity and race in a clever and interesting way. There is some romance but this is definitely not a romantasy - it fact it subverts many of the tropes - and the horror elements are more of the Gothic than gory variety.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Move over shadowdaddies and faerie lords; in 2026, we're getting seduced by wildfires and floods and storms.
Nghi Vo writes fairy tales for adults, and I, for one, couldn't be more delighted by them. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
Nghi Vo writes fairy tales for adults, and I, for one, couldn't be more delighted by them. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
May 15, 2026
Aw man, this one didn’t quite land for me. I liked the concept, but I wasn’t a fan of the main character at all. I also felt like there were a few plot holes and some things that never got properly explained.
Read
April 4, 2026well yes
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
An engaging and entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews