Of all Edgar Allen Poe's stories, "The Masque of the Red Death" is one of my favorites. It's the story of a callous prince whose response to a plague is to lock himself and all his friends inside a palace, and throw a party. It doesn't end well. 
 So I had high hopes for "Masque of the Red Death," a dystopian sci-fi novel set in a bleak future where disease has ravaged the world. Bethany Griffin has some excellent ideas and a pleasant writing style, but the ideas aren't quite brought to fruition -- and her main character is an emo wimp for far too long. 
 As the daughter of a scientist, Araby Worth lives a life of wealth and privilege -- especially compared to most people in her rotting city, who are ravaged by the Weeping Sickness. Because of her brother's death, she now tries to lose herself in the Debauchery District, dressing herself in glitzy clothes and taking whatever drugs will help her forget. 
 But one night her friend April vanishes. Because of that, Araby encounters two handsome men in the days that follow: April's brother Elliott, a charming aristocrat with a rebellious streak, and Will, a handsome hardworking guy with two little siblings. 
 And as she becomes more involved in their lives, she also becomes enmeshed in a brewing resistance against the cruel Prince Prospero, who casually commits murder to prop up his regime. And as Araby digs deeper, she finds some ugly secrets about the forces at work, and what they will do for power. 
 "Masque of the Red Death" has a lot of excellent concepts and settings -- a decadent high-tech citadel in the midst of a decaying, pestilent city, and a ghastly plague that only be stopped by expensive masks. It's a world of dark rainy nights, the smell of corpses and the sight of a civilization crumbled to bits. 
 The biggest problem, however, is Araby. For more than half the book, she just seems to be following the men around, limpy whining about how horrible the world is and how guilty she feels. Eventually you just wanna slap her and tell her to buck up. 
 But don't worry, anxious moms. Griffin shies away from any genuinely self-destructive behavior -- for instance, despite being so emo and tortured, Araby refuses to drown her pain in sex or any drugs that actually have SIDE-EFFECTS. Yeah, that seems likely. It makes her guilt and pain feel more like a selfish pose. 
 Fortunately, Araby does improve in the latter chapters, but not soon enough for me to like her. In fact, the story overall picks up sharply in those latter chapters, which pave the way for a future sequel. And Griffin's writing is... pretty decent. Not great, but it has some striking imagery and haunting scenes interspersed in the story. 
 "Masque of the Red Death" is a solid story marred by a truly annoying, whiny heroine. But since she finally improves in the latter part of the story, I'll be giving the inevitable sequel a look.