Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Title:  Ten
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Pages: 296
Published: September 18th 2012 by Balzer + Bray
Source: library
Links: goodreads,

SHHHH! Don't spread the word! Three-day weekend. Party at White Rock House on Henry Island. You do NOT want to miss it. It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury. But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

I recently read a fantastic book called And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.  I was so into it and never figured out the murderer.  After I read it I remembered hearing about a book that was a retelling of the Christie novel.  I couldn't wait to get started on it.  Well... such a disappointment.  The book is about a bunch of teenagers who are all invited to a party on an island out in the middle of nowhere.  Something about how the teenagers were written was just too childish for me.  More like a middle school book then a young adult book, it's the darker themes that make this book considered YA I suppose.  The book is full of teen speak... you know that annoying way teens are supposed to speak.  Plus... I had issues with some of the dialog.  For example, there is a black character who is made fun of for going to be the one who ides first.  This is a typical joke among horror movies.  People are used to joking like that and the guy who says it is accused of being a racist for saying that. The teens were serious about that accusation too.  Um... that isn't racism to me.

To be honest... I am surprised that this book has such high ratings on goodreads.  I just couldn't buy that a teen set up this whole murder weekend.  I don't see how in this book one could even ever figure out the murderer.  The relationships between characters is just ugh.  One girl is friends with another girl who bosses her around constantly but that's OK but the bossy girl has mental illness and is just off her meds.  This bothers me too.  There is mental illness in my family and that really isn't something to make a gimmick.  I hate when people are considered off their meds then they are just plan mean and crazy.  There of course was the dorky teen fights over who gets the boy.

The book is about making people feel guilty because a girl committed suicide and murdering them for it.  Eh... I guess I also don't like people being punished for something they didn't even know they caused. You never even really care about the characters who die.  Most of them you barely know anything about other then theirs names.  Also.. no one's parents checked in with their kid at all during that weekend??  NO ONE'S?  Please my mom would've been like where the hell are you and why can't I get a hold of you.

I would pass on this book.  It is a middle school book written for teens.  The writing just isn't that strong.  It's too bad... I feel like the book could've been so much more.