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graceburts 's review for:
Ten
by Gretchen McNeil
My initial and only thought after finishing this book:
TEN by Gretchen McNeil is a retelling or more appropriately a reimagining of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, only this time it’s about teenagers and as a result wayyyyy pettier.
I read this book super quickly, as I do most mystery/thrillers. The suspense was built really well and it left me on the edge of my seat even though, from the synopsis and my prior knowledge of the original work, I more or less knew what was coming. I really liked the idea of a modern day take on one of my favourite books but I wasn’t a particular fan of a lot of the deviations McNeil took.
- 1) The character’s previously knowing each other before getting to the island. (best friends and exes and crushes)
- 2) People didn’t die for good enough reasons. Yes, I know technically there is never a good reason to murder someone but this is fiction and in Christie’s original work the motivation the murderer had was one of the most satisfying parts of the novel and in that aspect, this novel really fell flat.
- 3) Innocent people dying for no other reason than to further the romance plot
- 4)
- 5) Pointless and annoying addition of romance
- 6) Even more pointless and even more annoying addition of a love triangle and as a result, best friends competing for the same guy. Listen, I’m not against female’s arguing but arguing over a guy? I’m honestly just bored. I’m so sick of reading about it. Girls have bigger things to worry about than “stealing” their best friends crush. The female friendships in my life are the purest things I have ever experienced. @Authors be original. Write about that.
Other than the deviations, I also found myself cringing at some of the passages in this book. It felt like the author was trying way too hard to relate to the teens or whatever and as a result, ended up going way over the top.
For example: “Meg desperately fought the urge to roll her eyes at the nacho-cheesiness of his line, but it was like crack for Minnie.”
“Then he grabbed her around the waist and started to freak her like a dog in heat.” (WTF does that even mean?????)
Also, the way mental illness was portrayed in this was questionable. The way the main character, Meg, talked about her best friends bipolar disorder made me super uncomfortable.
“Meg could hear the panic in her voice and prayed Minnie had actually packed her medications. If she didn’t this wouldn’t end well.” – She’s more worried about avoiding a scene than the well being of her friend the entirety of the novel. She also complained a lot about taking care of her. She would make it seem like she was a burden and it was never disproved or talked about.
All my complaints aside I enjoyed reading what I would classify as the slasher part of this novel. I mean, I love slasher stories and their specific brand of tropey- ness. My only criteria for slasher stories are 1) everything connecting after the big reveal 2) not predictable 3) lots of main character deaths.
Was this book superficial and cringey at times? Yes. Did it also have me on the edge of my seat? Yes, yes it did. This book has its problems but it was also published in 2012. If you can manage to be a little less nitpicky than I am and you like a good slasher story, I’d say give this one a try. Also, as a word of advice, this is way better when you don’t compare it to And Then There Were None.
Spoiler
KILL OFF MAIN CHARACTERS, YOU COWARDSTEN by Gretchen McNeil is a retelling or more appropriately a reimagining of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, only this time it’s about teenagers and as a result wayyyyy pettier.
I read this book super quickly, as I do most mystery/thrillers. The suspense was built really well and it left me on the edge of my seat even though, from the synopsis and my prior knowledge of the original work, I more or less knew what was coming. I really liked the idea of a modern day take on one of my favourite books but I wasn’t a particular fan of a lot of the deviations McNeil took.
- 1) The character’s previously knowing each other before getting to the island. (best friends and exes and crushes)
- 2) People didn’t die for good enough reasons. Yes, I know technically there is never a good reason to murder someone but this is fiction and in Christie’s original work the motivation the murderer had was one of the most satisfying parts of the novel and in that aspect, this novel really fell flat.
- 3) Innocent people dying for no other reason than to further the romance plot
Spoiler
(ie. Evening up the deaths and making the total number ten, so the author could keep the precious main character and her love interest alive)- 4)
Spoiler
2 survivors…. what happened to their being none???? Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded this so much if the two people that survived were the two best friends… or literally anyone else but the love interest.- 5) Pointless and annoying addition of romance
- 6) Even more pointless and even more annoying addition of a love triangle and as a result, best friends competing for the same guy. Listen, I’m not against female’s arguing but arguing over a guy? I’m honestly just bored. I’m so sick of reading about it. Girls have bigger things to worry about than “stealing” their best friends crush. The female friendships in my life are the purest things I have ever experienced. @Authors be original. Write about that.
Other than the deviations, I also found myself cringing at some of the passages in this book. It felt like the author was trying way too hard to relate to the teens or whatever and as a result, ended up going way over the top.
For example: “Meg desperately fought the urge to roll her eyes at the nacho-cheesiness of his line, but it was like crack for Minnie.”
“Then he grabbed her around the waist and started to freak her like a dog in heat.” (WTF does that even mean?????)
Also, the way mental illness was portrayed in this was questionable. The way the main character, Meg, talked about her best friends bipolar disorder made me super uncomfortable.
“Meg could hear the panic in her voice and prayed Minnie had actually packed her medications. If she didn’t this wouldn’t end well.” – She’s more worried about avoiding a scene than the well being of her friend the entirety of the novel. She also complained a lot about taking care of her. She would make it seem like she was a burden and it was never disproved or talked about.
Spoiler
Minnie, the best friend, just ended up dying……Spoiler
Okay, listen, I’m not going to go into a big rant about heteronormativity and all the problematic messages the romance of this book sends but let me just say, the two romantic interests being the only people to survive is cheap as fuck.All my complaints aside I enjoyed reading what I would classify as the slasher part of this novel. I mean, I love slasher stories and their specific brand of tropey- ness. My only criteria for slasher stories are 1) everything connecting after the big reveal 2) not predictable 3) lots of main character deaths.
Was this book superficial and cringey at times? Yes. Did it also have me on the edge of my seat? Yes, yes it did. This book has its problems but it was also published in 2012. If you can manage to be a little less nitpicky than I am and you like a good slasher story, I’d say give this one a try. Also, as a word of advice, this is way better when you don’t compare it to And Then There Were None.