Gypsy Reviews

Originally posted at Gypsy ReviewsMeg and Minnie, who have been best friends since 7th Grade, are invited to a weekend party at Henry Island held by Jessica Lawrence, the most popular girl in school. With Meg feeling guilty about leaving Minnie when she leaves for UCLA in the fall, their relationship is put even more at strain when she realises T.J., both Meg and Minnie’s crush will be at the party too and with what happened at Homecoming, Meg begins to regret accompanying Minnie to the party. But the party is far from what it seems, with people starting to die after watching a mysterious DVD and the murderer taking them down one by one in the midst of a storm where they are completely cut off from the outside world. Will they be able to survive and find out who the killer it?Ten is no doubt a horror, suspense and thriller novel and I love me some good thriller novels which is surprising because I am terrified of horror movies but reading it? This is totally different. I loved the premise for the story, it seems pretty cliche but it works when trying to build up the suspense. Throughout the book, I was counting down who was down and who was left and I kept on guessing who was the killer. From the very beginning, I already had my suspicions and it kept me on the edge until the very end and threw me off guard.Meg is a conflicted character, one at odds with her head and her heart. She’s been best friends with Minnie since 7th Grade when Minnie chose to opt out of the popular posse for Meg and Meg feels indebted towards Minnie for that. But with Minnie’s bipolar, Meg has been wanting to escape from the strain of having to deal with Minnie’s feelings towards her when it comes to T.J. who Minnie has a huge crush on. Meg cannot wait to go to UCLA in the fall but yet can’t help but feel a little guilty about it. I liked this part of the story, it seemed very real and understandable because Meg is always there for Minnie and reminding her to take her pills and is someone who can comfort Minnie. But Minnie hardly does anything for Meg in return, more or less, if Meg even spends time with T.J., Minnie will get mad. The relationship was once a healthy one but you slowly realise that it is anything but. In a way it added more dynamic towards the whole who-will-turn-on-who part and it really delves into the psychological part of Meg and Minnie’s friendship.Each of the ten teens all have unique personalities that stand out and their entire connection ties in with the mystery very well and smartly. I’m not going to reveal anything because I don’t want to spoil the surprise but it was executed very well and wow, the murderer really took a lot of painstaking effort to do all of that. Their fear of being murdered is unmistakable and they do start turning against each other, much to the murderer’s delight and in the beginning, the teens will do anything to believe that a murderer isn’t among them and the events are purely coincidental. McNeil was able to capture human nature right in those moments.My one complaint is that I didn’t feel like the mystery and suspense was long enough. The first quarter was mainly a lot of teenage stuff which frankly, is a little boring and after the first murder which really gave me chills and I had to put it down for the night, it lost the chilling feeling until a little later. So I felt it could have been more scarier and those more suspenseful scenes could have maintained that spine-shivering atmosphere throughout the book.Ten is no doubt a chilling and suspenseful novel that will keep you at the tip of your toes and keep you second guessing constantly, who could it be? You’ll be surprised to find out that even with your suspicions, Ten will still manage to throw your suspicions over entirely. This is must for thriller and horror fans.