Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
Although it started a bit slow, the story really picks up like a steam train. By staying with one narrator, it was easy to believe that everyone was a suspect. It was a thrilling mystery that kept me captivated to the end.
You remember that time you and your friends went to an exclusive island party and got trapped there during a raging storm and were murdered one by one for reasons unknown? No? Well, Gretchen McNeil's TEN harkens back to the days of SCREAM and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. Like real life, only better ... because you're not actually on the hit list of a serial killer.
* Originally posted at www.firstnovelsclub.com
* Originally posted at www.firstnovelsclub.com
The use of the word "Esk*mo" is jarring for a book published in 2013, a time where we--as readers and hopefully as writers--should already know that it is considered a slur. Was there no other way to convey the same imagery? If this is just a small detail and I'm nitpicking, it shouldn't also be so big that it can't have been changed.
This book was pretty much the same plot, just different characters as And Then There Were None. I didn't like that it was pretty much copied, but the book was suspenseful and kept me reading
This, and other reviews can be found on Just a Lil' Lost
Meg & Minnie, best friends who were invited to an exclusive secret party on an island for the weekend. They are excited that their (shared) crush is going to be at the party as well, and all seems fine and normal until a storm rages in and strange occurrences start happening. When they pop in a DVD to watch, they're faced with a bizarre set of images that seem to set off a string of events that escalate in horrifying nature. When the party goers start dying off, the list of suspects narrows. The question hangs in the air of whether it is one of the remaining teens or someone else altogether who has been watching them.
What a nail-biter of a read! Akin to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, this YA reworking of the creepy mystery follows that same premise. I devoured this in one sitting (while at the cottage, no less) and McNeil is very adept at creating a creepy & chilling setting. While I felt most of the female characters in this book were beyond irritating, the guys had a lot more personality to them. There was more diversity in character among the males, where the majority of the girls just often acted really catty and bitchy - and that got irritating quick.
The build-up of tension was well-paced and kept me riveted to the pages. I found myself constantly trying to figure it out before it was revealed - which, I hate doing but I can't help myself sometimes! I wish I could get further into it, but being the nature of the story, I really can't without discussing plot points and giving stuff away. I'll just say that despite the very last moments where it felt a bit cheesy, I was actually quite surprised by the ending and who the killer ended up being. Well played, Gretchen. Well played.
Meg & Minnie, best friends who were invited to an exclusive secret party on an island for the weekend. They are excited that their (shared) crush is going to be at the party as well, and all seems fine and normal until a storm rages in and strange occurrences start happening. When they pop in a DVD to watch, they're faced with a bizarre set of images that seem to set off a string of events that escalate in horrifying nature. When the party goers start dying off, the list of suspects narrows. The question hangs in the air of whether it is one of the remaining teens or someone else altogether who has been watching them.
What a nail-biter of a read! Akin to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, this YA reworking of the creepy mystery follows that same premise. I devoured this in one sitting (while at the cottage, no less) and McNeil is very adept at creating a creepy & chilling setting. While I felt most of the female characters in this book were beyond irritating, the guys had a lot more personality to them. There was more diversity in character among the males, where the majority of the girls just often acted really catty and bitchy - and that got irritating quick.
The build-up of tension was well-paced and kept me riveted to the pages. I found myself constantly trying to figure it out before it was revealed - which, I hate doing but I can't help myself sometimes! I wish I could get further into it, but being the nature of the story, I really can't without discussing plot points and giving stuff away. I'll just say that despite the very last moments where it felt a bit cheesy, I was actually quite surprised by the ending and who the killer ended up being. Well played, Gretchen. Well played.
I knew going in that it was an "And Then There Were None" retelling, so the lack of surprise didn't really bother me. What annoyed me more was the teenagers acting so stupidly, unrealistically so. Like, still worrying about what your crush will think of you when there's a murderer on the loose. I had trouble believing even teenagers would do that. Just meh all around.
Enjoyable and fast paced with a decent mystery and red heron, but the writing in this book was too immature for me to fully love it. I know it’s a YA book and was prepared for that fact, but it read even younger than I expected to be dealing with such gruesome themes and scenes. Overall, this book just wasn’t standout. A month from now, I feel like I’ll barely remember it. However, I definitely recommend this for any teen readers looking to get into the darker genres.
As a long-time Agatha Christie fan and a huge fan of retellings, this book inspired by her classic And Then There Were None was of immediate interest to me. It's a tricky story where I was unable to solve the mystery (although to be honest, I rarely figure out the murderer in a Christie) but I had hopes for doing so in this case. Alas they were misguided as I was caught completely off-guard by the actual murderer after thinking it was someone else. But let's go back to the beginning.
This book gathers ten teens together for a weekend with a raging party. Although not everyone knows each other, those who do have simmering tensions. Best friends Meg and Minnie both have a crush on popular boy TJ whose best friend Gunner used to date Minnie. Gunner's new girlfriend is also there as are a few more kids. But Meg is our main character although she does not narrate in first person, which kept throwing me. I am so used to YA main characters narrating that I often struggle to connect with third-person narration. This was the case here although I think the plot itself also helped with my disconnect. As the story turns dark, everyone is potentially a murderer and who wants to identify with a murderer?
So while I didn't connect with the characters, I did really appreciate the atmospheric setting. They're on a basically deserted island without power during a massive storm, which served to ratchet up the tension. I'm not usually one to notice the setting but it was very evocative here.
One last item to mention is something that also bothered me about the original book-I am just so uncomfortable with this vigilante justice. The murderer firmly believes in his/her cause, which would likely not be prosecuted had legal means been pursued but I hate the idea of a person deciding to claim their own justice through such means. It's the nature of the story but I really hate it.
Overall: Not at all character driven but full of suspense for fans of such.
This book gathers ten teens together for a weekend with a raging party. Although not everyone knows each other, those who do have simmering tensions. Best friends Meg and Minnie both have a crush on popular boy TJ whose best friend Gunner used to date Minnie. Gunner's new girlfriend is also there as are a few more kids. But Meg is our main character although she does not narrate in first person, which kept throwing me. I am so used to YA main characters narrating that I often struggle to connect with third-person narration. This was the case here although I think the plot itself also helped with my disconnect. As the story turns dark, everyone is potentially a murderer and who wants to identify with a murderer?
So while I didn't connect with the characters, I did really appreciate the atmospheric setting. They're on a basically deserted island without power during a massive storm, which served to ratchet up the tension. I'm not usually one to notice the setting but it was very evocative here.
One last item to mention is something that also bothered me about the original book-I am just so uncomfortable with this vigilante justice. The murderer firmly believes in his/her cause, which would likely not be prosecuted had legal means been pursued but I hate the idea of a person deciding to claim their own justice through such means. It's the nature of the story but I really hate it.
Overall: Not at all character driven but full of suspense for fans of such.
Well done even if it is a teen retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.