Rave Guest Review: Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Today’s guest review is from Nichole from the fabulous YA Reads. When she was told me she was going to review this book, I looked it up and it immediately seemed like the type of book any horror fan would love. Why? It seemed FREAKING SCARY. See what Nichole has to say about it!

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?

Funny story, I read Ten by Gretchen McNeil in 2012. I remember branching out to YA horror and thinking, “no biggie….it’s young adult. Young adult can’t be scary! No way will this bother me!” Yeah. To. The. Mother. Freaking. Right. I WAS WRONG. I WAS SO WRONG! HOLY COW! This book scared the heck out me! I jumped. I screamed. I hid under my covers. It got to the point that I couldn’t read this book in the dark. Trust me readers: This is a must read jumpy YA horror that will be absolutely perfect for Fall/October/Halloween!

Ten was a story that I picked up because everyone was telling me to go read the book. I was still a Gretchen McNeil virgin and everyone was absolutely raving about her work. Even though I absolutely loved Ten, I will say that it did start out a little bit slowly for my taste. Okay. Maybe that’s not quite accurate. It’s less that it started and slowly and more that I couldn’t really stand Minnie’s character. I remember that she was really annoying during the first part of the book. Eventually, things turned around and all of the characters were very intriguing and appealing!

What’s really funny about my reading this book, besides the fact that I’m a total wimp, is the fact that I truly thought that I would be able to figure out who the killer was. In my defense, I’m actually usually pretty good at pinpointing who did what in movies. I just automatically thought that the same would be true for books. NOT TRUE! I was so dead wrong. Holy crapola. And what was awesome was that I never could pinpoint on one person ever. I was all over the place all over the time and found everyone suspicious. Everyone was just so unique and so creepy….I can’t even. Look at this! It’s been like 4 years since I’ve read this book, and I already want to dive back into it!

My only slight complaint with McNeil’s works is that they usually tend to be standalones. I guess if I’m speaking logically, it just wouldn’t have made much sense if this book had continued into a series. It would have been cheesy and unoriginal. It definitely made more sense for it be a standalone. That doesn’t mean that I have to like it, though! I can appropriately be devastated that it’s over and no longer has more to tell!

Basically, if you’re looking for an amazing YA horror to read this fall, this one is the bomb diggity! 100% go read this book! You will be scared. You will be enthralled. You will be too afraid to read this in the dark. Get to reading, bookworms!

This book sounds fantastic, right? Have you read the book yet? What did YOU think? Can you recommend other young adult horror novels?

A.S. Thornton

A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.