Goodreads Book Description: SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. House party.
White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.
But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.
Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?
My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
My Review:
I had heard rave reviews about this book, and so had to give it a try. Partway through, I was wondering why I was still reading it, but to its credit, I made it to the end.
Ten by Gretchen McNeil is a "teen horror flick" novel where 10 almost strangers get stranded on an island and start getting picked off one by one. Our third person narrator is Meg, a nerdy chick, who somehow has caught the eye of the star quarterback, but her best friend, Minnie, is also in love with him. What happens next could be cataloged in any recent teen horror flick, but not excluding older ones like Scream.
I knew within a few pages that I wasn't going to rate this book very well. First, I felt like the writing was very clumsy. It's a bad sign when I feel like I could write in a similar way and possibly do it better. There have been some comparisons to R.L. Stine books, and I'd have to agree. Second of all, the characters are not likeable at all, and as I was skimming through, I couldn't wait for them all to die. Minnie (although thrown off as a psych diagnosis) is one of the most awful people I've met in literature in a while. Whiny, clingy, jealous, and just plain mean. Not sure how Meg has stuck by her all these years-- someone should examine Meg's so called intelligent brain as well.
The fact that this was compared to Agatha Christie's marvelous And Then There Were None is unfortunately a joke. To its credit, I didn't anticipate the last twist, but sadly, by that time, I didn't really care.
Overall, I'm glad other people were entertained by this book, but it definitely was not for me.
What did you think of this book?
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So sad to hear that, this book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now. I hope I'll like it :)
ReplyDeleteSamaine@ Bookworms Avenue
Too bad you didn't like it - I thought it sounded really good but I haven't read it yet...Have you read McNeil's other book Possession? And if so, would you recommend that one?
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this book didn't work for you. I definitely agree about the characters (all uniformly awful) but was able to enjoy the pacing and mystery even though as someone who's read And Then There Were None, I should have been able to figure it out-hope your next read is better!
ReplyDeleteI think that people compare it to And then there were none because Gretchen wrote it as a YA retelling. It's unfortunate you didn't enjoy it though.
ReplyDelete