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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Essentially the Agatha Christie novel 'Ten Little Indians (And Then There Were None) but with teens.
This novel was a little too teeny and silly for me. The plot and build-up to the whole story was decent but the ending was a little unrealistic and dramatic for me.
DNF - way too boring and predictable for my liking
This book was AMAZING! If you enjoyed The Cabin by Natasha Preston you’ll love this!
Ten people get invited to an island - they are told the reason they are there (a three day house party) - that's not the real reason they are there and the hosts are absent. Of course they all start to die one by one.
Sound familiar?
Yeah almost everything was stolen/lifted/copied from Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None".
"And Then There Were None" is my favorite mystery novel so I thought why not, maybe she updated the premise for a new generation and put some new twists on it. I didn't think I would love it (I didn't) but I thought I would like it and maybe discover some new angles to the classic story.
It's a one star book if you compare it to Agatha Christie.
It's a one star book if you base it on originality.
It's a two star book if you care about characters and their development (they aggravated the crap out of me all the way through the book).
It's a four star book if you care about plotting.
It's a four star book if you care about the tension level and page-turnability.
For me - I'll round it up to three stars but just barely.
I would not recommend this book (I'd recommend Agatha Christie) because it's been done before and it's been done better and Gretchen McNeil really doesn't add anything to the story.
Sound familiar?
Yeah almost everything was stolen/lifted/copied from Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None".
"And Then There Were None" is my favorite mystery novel so I thought why not, maybe she updated the premise for a new generation and put some new twists on it. I didn't think I would love it (I didn't) but I thought I would like it and maybe discover some new angles to the classic story.
It's a one star book if you compare it to Agatha Christie.
It's a one star book if you base it on originality.
It's a two star book if you care about characters and their development (they aggravated the crap out of me all the way through the book).
It's a four star book if you care about plotting.
It's a four star book if you care about the tension level and page-turnability.
For me - I'll round it up to three stars but just barely.
I would not recommend this book (I'd recommend Agatha Christie) because it's been done before and it's been done better and Gretchen McNeil really doesn't add anything to the story.
When Meg and her BFF Minnie are invited to a weekend party at a popular girl's vacation house, they jump at the chance. Or at least Minnie does and Meg is drug along for the ride. Looking forward to hot guys, partying, and style, the girls take a ferry over to an exclusive island. Right away things get weird. First off, the girl that is supposed to be hosting is a no-show. Then a major storm whips up, leaving all the guests stuck until it blows over. Meg is not looking forward to spending the weekend with her off-limits crush (because he's Minnie's crush too) and Minnie's ex and new girlfriend. It's just awkward.
Then people start dying. At first it seems innocent... but then how many coincidences can you have before it starts to look intentional? Meg knows it has something to do with a creepy diary that she's found, but doesn't know if revealing it will make her look guilty. As she struggles to figure out who the killer is and how to get the heck off the island, things get more and more deadly. Will she figure it out before it's too late?
My Thoughts:
I read this book at the end of October in honor of Halloween. It seemed like the perfect book for this time of year due to the subject and just look at that cover!! Definitely creepy. I was looking for something fast-paced and easy to read... and I definitely got that.
This book was totally reminding me of my R.L. Stine/Christopher Pike reading days. You have 10 people stuck on an island and someone is killing them off one by one. Definitely a Fear Street-type book if I ever saw one. I really enjoyed reading something that reminded me of that time period because it seems pretty rare in YA anymore. Things in YA have gotten DEEP and developed... which is a good thing!! But sometimes I just want to read a classic mystery which doesn't have a ton of hidden meanings and back-stories and emotions and all that stuff. If you are looking for something to just entertain you, this is your book.
So now the book. The main character is Meg who is in a co-dependent relationship with her best friend Minnie. Minnie has mental issues and depends on Meg far too much. On top of that, their friendship is tense due to Minnie finding out that Meg has decided to leave her go to college in California. When they show up to the island they discover T.J. is there. Basically Minnie wants T.J., but he wants Meg... and Meg wants him back, but she doesn't want to hurt Minnie. So yeah, it's awkward and tense there. There are 7 other people at the house which leads to a lot of suspects once the killing starts. It also made it hard for me to keep track of everybody and what their roles were.
I will say that for a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, I didn't care for ANY of the characters. There wasn't a single likable one in the bunch. The ones that I wanted to like (Meg and T.J.) could never actually get it together for me to consistently root for them. Minnie was the worst of the group. Super annoying clingy airhead bitch. Needed slapped at least TEN times throughout the book.
It's definitely a book looking into if you are looking to read a pure mystery without much depth. Something you can read without hurting your head over. Something that just entertains and scares you a little.
Overall: A book that totally had me channeling my R.L. Stine reading days. It's a book about a bunch of teens stuck on an island with a killer. It's thrilling and addicting, but it's not deep. Definitely something to read to get in the Halloween mood... or just for entertainment.
My Blog:
Then people start dying. At first it seems innocent... but then how many coincidences can you have before it starts to look intentional? Meg knows it has something to do with a creepy diary that she's found, but doesn't know if revealing it will make her look guilty. As she struggles to figure out who the killer is and how to get the heck off the island, things get more and more deadly. Will she figure it out before it's too late?
My Thoughts:
I read this book at the end of October in honor of Halloween. It seemed like the perfect book for this time of year due to the subject and just look at that cover!! Definitely creepy. I was looking for something fast-paced and easy to read... and I definitely got that.
This book was totally reminding me of my R.L. Stine/Christopher Pike reading days. You have 10 people stuck on an island and someone is killing them off one by one. Definitely a Fear Street-type book if I ever saw one. I really enjoyed reading something that reminded me of that time period because it seems pretty rare in YA anymore. Things in YA have gotten DEEP and developed... which is a good thing!! But sometimes I just want to read a classic mystery which doesn't have a ton of hidden meanings and back-stories and emotions and all that stuff. If you are looking for something to just entertain you, this is your book.
So now the book. The main character is Meg who is in a co-dependent relationship with her best friend Minnie. Minnie has mental issues and depends on Meg far too much. On top of that, their friendship is tense due to Minnie finding out that Meg has decided to leave her go to college in California. When they show up to the island they discover T.J. is there. Basically Minnie wants T.J., but he wants Meg... and Meg wants him back, but she doesn't want to hurt Minnie. So yeah, it's awkward and tense there. There are 7 other people at the house which leads to a lot of suspects once the killing starts. It also made it hard for me to keep track of everybody and what their roles were.
I will say that for a book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, I didn't care for ANY of the characters. There wasn't a single likable one in the bunch. The ones that I wanted to like (Meg and T.J.) could never actually get it together for me to consistently root for them. Minnie was the worst of the group. Super annoying clingy airhead bitch. Needed slapped at least TEN times throughout the book.
It's definitely a book looking into if you are looking to read a pure mystery without much depth. Something you can read without hurting your head over. Something that just entertains and scares you a little.
Overall: A book that totally had me channeling my R.L. Stine reading days. It's a book about a bunch of teens stuck on an island with a killer. It's thrilling and addicting, but it's not deep. Definitely something to read to get in the Halloween mood... or just for entertainment.
My Blog:
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes