Book: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Published September 2012 by Balzer + Bray

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Horror/Thriller

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there.

With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

In an effort to read some of the books that have been on my virtual TBR for ages, I decided to pick up Ten by Gretchen McNeil.  It’s a cool idea but it ended up being just okay for me.

Part of why it was okay was that I had a hard time telling Meg and Minnie apart, especially at the beginning.  For some reason, it seemed like the story switched back and forth between, and I felt like I needed to write who was who and who dated who just to tell everyone apart.  It’s not how I want to start off a book, and it was more confusing than it needed to be.

The ominous movie they watch kind of reminded me of that one horror movie where you watch it and then you die some time period after.  I can’t remember the name of it, and I know I can google it, but I just don’t feel like it right now.  I don’t watch a lot of horror movies, but I vaguely remember that one, and I was initially reminded of that one movie.  Then it turned into a murder mystery, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would.  There is this very mysterious, creepy vibe the entire book, but what actually happened wasn’t particularly scary or thrilling.

The idea is pretty cool, though I wasn’t particularly surprised by anything that happened.  A pretty deserted island, a storm, someone out for revenge…it was a story I was pretty familiar with even though I haven’t read this book.  I might have liked it more had I read it years ago.  I’m pretty sure teenage me would have liked it.  Or maybe YA horror isn’t really my thing.  I feel like I try to read YA horror and mysteries and thrillers and then I never really like it.  More often than not I don’t, but you don’t know until you read it, right?

2 stars.  Ten was okay, and I’m clearly not the audience for this book.  I thought it was pretty predictable but I did like the idea of getting people to an island for revenge.