Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Publisher: Balzer and Bray

Pages: 304

Received: Borrowed from a friend

Release Date: September 18, 2012
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

And their doom comes swiftly.

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?

My Review:

I love the dark stories, and murder mysteries are the best type of those dark and creepy tales. I've been disappointed that I haven't found much of those in YA, but I haven't been reading YA for that long either. When I hear about TEN, everything about it screamed creepy (I mean look at the cover!) And honestly after finishing it I can say that this was definitely keep you up at night creepy.

McNeil really does not make you feel like you are reading a YA book at all. She goes into gory detail at times that made me want to put the book down because I could picture it in my head and was just disturbed.  But at the same time I was loving every moment of this book. There are so many great twists along the way that I couldn't guess what was coming next. And the ending, I was completely shocked with everything!

There were a lot of things about Meg's character that I absolutely loved. She had a lot of skills and really thought things through to try and solve the mystery. But when it came to her friend Minnie she was a completely different character. I understand that she was the protector character always trying to be there for Minnie, but I felt that she lost some of her character when Minnie was around (part of me wished that Minnie wasn't there... lol)

The ending of this book was amazing and had me hanging on to the edge of my seat (though the whole book had me like that). Everything that I was expecting from this book was so wrong, I was constantly surprised by what McNeil did with this story. I loved how even though this is a horror book, in a way it is a contemporary book as well, McNeil adds in all the regular teenage issues amongst all the events happening around them.

Once you pick this book up, it will be impossible to put down. I advise not to read when you are stranded at a cottage (or maybe do... definitely makes it creepier when you can put yourself in that place). But wherever you choose, this is one book that makes the top of the list! Definitely can't wait to read more of McNeil's writing!

For more information on Gretchen McNeil and TEN check out the Harper Collins Canada webpage.