REVIEW: Ten

Book: Ten by Gretchen McNeil   
Release Date: September 18th 2012 by Balzer + Bray   
Pages: 294 pages
Source: Library Copy
 

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?

Frankly, Ten disappointed me. I had expected this big murder mystery complete with suspense but that was not the case with this book. From a story with nearly 300 pages, only the last 80 pages were mildly interesting. I did not enjoy this book.

Nicole's Review

To get straight to the point, Meg was a pretty weak character. I didn't feel much sympathy for her even though the author tried to make her this sweet, understanding girl. She seemed more like a Mary Sue to me. Why? Well, she's in love with her best friend's crush but she's so loyal and kind that she's staying away from him. Her best friend also has issues, but Meg is also kind and understanding enough to forgive said best friend. Even though her best friend (Minnie) is absolutely nuts and I cannot stand that girl, Meg is apparently perfect/kind/awesome like that.

Meg's "amazing" personality made her feel like a 2-D flat character to me.

 And speaking of dumb characters, there were a lot of them in this book. Firstly and obviously, there was Minnie. Like Meg notices, Minnie can be controlling and rude when her mental illness kicks in. Minnie is also very possessive. I didn't like her at all. She is absolutely selfish and yet Meg sticks by her side dutifully because Minnie was once nice to Meg. Uh huh, yeah, no. I cannot even describe the selfish things Minnie does and how annoying she is. I also cannot feel much sympathy for her, because the excuse of an illness does not make it okay.

Then there was T.J., the love interest of both Minnie and Meg. He isn't horrible, but I don't particularly like him. He is incredibly stupid, and if you have read the ending, you would know why. I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say something very unbelievable happens. 

The other secondary characters weren't much better that that. When they had found a girl dead on the island, they took forever to realize that it wasn't a suicide --- and that was after they see a freaky video claiming that it will seek vengeance. Funny, you would think that the characters would be smart enough to put the pieces together...

Needless to say, they were all not very bright. In Ten, the characters pretty much all turned on each other quickly and there are lots of backstabbing drama. I wish they were more defined people instead of dramatic characters.

And then comes the ending. After we find out who the criminal mastermind is, I was like NO. Because really, NO, it is impossible. Considering what the murderer had done and how they had planned all this out, the plan is easily foiled. All it needed to take was some brilliant secondary characters to catch this murderer in the act (which is quite easy) and all would be well. Except, of course, we don't have the brilliant secondary characters. So, yeah, the murderer's plan is pretty unbelievable. It's a big stretch as well.

I am not impressed with it, and the last of my respect for Ten died at the last few pages. I don't know how to put this without spoiling the book, but IT IS ONE OF THE WORST ENDINGS IN HISTORY. My last impression of Meg is that she's a selfish, annoying girl who cares about nothing but her romance with T.J.

I did not like this book. It annoyed me and irritated me to death.

Final Rank

 1     2     3     4     5

I don't give out one star ratings often, but this book deserved it. All the characters annoyed me, and the plot was pretty boring, despite its summary. Like I mentioned before, it has 300 pages and only 80 pages of that was actually interesting. Meg wasn't particularly a fun character to read about and neither were the other characters in the book. They all annoyed me. To sum it,  everything in this book annoyed me.