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itsjustkatereading 's review for:
Ten
by Gretchen McNeil
3.75* I am so conflicted on how I felt about this book!! On one hand, I LOVED it. It was gripping, heart pounding, addictive and so intense, a lot more so than I'd expected. It genuinely had me freaked out at points and kept me guessing until the last page which is everything I want in a thriller and something I rarely find. Yes it was incredibly cliche but in such a fun way, that it didn't take away from the enjoyment (although there was a questionable moment when a couple decided the perfect time to have a full on make out session, was after finding a house full of murderer bodies because, of course?...) On the on the hand, Ten was utterly littered with ableism and specifically ableist language, which was so incredibly disappointing. I understand that it was written in 2012, when people maybe weren't so understanding but oh my gosh, the ableist language was heavy. The cast was pretty diverse, out of the ten teens a minor character was Samoan, two were Asian and a main character black. (Although I'm not in a position to say wether or not the representation was harmful in anyway.) Another main character was described as having crippling anxiety and bipolar disorder but I personally wasn't a fan of the way she was portrayed at all. She was a pretty nasty character, which was consistently blamed on her mental health, which was more than frustrating. So yes, conflicted is definitely how I'd describe my feeling on Ten. I flew through it, couldn't put it down and I can't tell you how refreshing it was to read a YA thriller where I hadn't guessed 'whodunit' within the first few pages. Unfortunately, I can't ignore the blatant and fairly regular ableist language used and therefore can't give it as high of a rating as I would have, had that not been there. I'm definitely intrigued to read more from Gretchen McNeil, as (other than the ableism mentioned) I loved her addictive writing style and I just hope whatever I read next from her, isn't quite so heavy on the ableist language!