Ten
by Gretchen McNeil
Genre: YA Thriller
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: September 18th 2012
Pages: 294 (hardcover)
Source: finished copy from publisher
Author's website | GoodReads

SHHHH!Don't spread the word!Three-day weekend. House party.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?

This was one of the most highly anticipated reads of the year, and it definitely didn't disappoint. I love a creepy thriller as much as any other Agatha Christie fan, and i'm happy to say that this isn't one of those bad retellings of And Then There Were None. Ten kept me guessing until the very end, which is quite a feat considering the amount of mysteries I've digested in my lifetime. Take a group of diverse teenagers, place them on a setting as creepy as creepy can get, and add a mindboggling mystery that will mess with your heart and your soul; and you get the epitome of modern teen horror literature that is Ten.

The number of characters in Ten was overwhelming! Each had their own secrets, their own shady past and background. They weren't very likeable characters; they were all cliched stereotypes and all of them annoyed me in a way, but that adds to the book's charm. The story is told from Meg's point of view so we get to know her pretty well. She was an interesting character with a lot of problems and emotions bubbling up inside her. However, despite being brave and smart, she was actually pretty weak. She was too concerned about the welfare of others and never lets her own needs come before the needs of others, namely her best friend's. See what I told you about stereotypes? I liked her enough, but I couldn't really connect with her in an emotional sense.

I couldn't guess who the murder was! I had all of these suspicions, but it was difficult to direct them all to one person. People were dropping dead one-by-one as fast as you can say "Ten", and I soon found myself left with dead suspects. It came to the point where all the people I suspected were dead and I began to doubt everyone- including Meg. This book really messed with my mind and left me hanging on a thread at each turn of the page. It got very exciting and was definitely a page-turner towards the end. There was an obvious psychological change in each character; the killings clearly got to their head and they were slowly succumbing to insanity and it was creepy beyond words. If you're the daring type, read this book at night! It will definitely send shivers down your spine. I have always been a fan of mystery and suspense, and I have to say that this is one of the best Young Adult thrillers out in the market. McNeil weaved this story in a clear and concise way, but leaves the reader guessing all throughout. I loved the element of surprise that she masterfully presented.

Ten will blow your mind. Excessively vivid and haunting, the readers will think that they're on the island, desperately trying to avoid an unknown killer- one who might possibly be the person you trust the most. Masterfully written in a way that makes readers instinctively bury their heads under the covers whilst turning the page, Ten will turn you into a curious kitty cat; trying to go deeper into the mind of each character. Ten is gleeful terror masked in pure perfection.

THE NUB AND GIST: 4.5 STARS

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