Ratings26
Average rating3.1
I'm not going to give a review as such, just to say that MEG NEEDS TO SORT OUT HER PRIORITIES. People are dying and she's just fawning over the boy she has a crush on.
I loved it.! Very Suspenseful, it was so good. I've never really read a suspenseful book but I'm glad I did.
It's a “I know what you did last summer” meets “the pretty little liars”.
This is definitely one of those YA books that reminds me I'm actually an old woman. Not for me, but I would recommend it to teen library patrons, who will appreciate the fast-paced plot and can overlook the one-dimensional characters. It wouldn't be my go-to recommendation, though, especially since the depiction of mental illness is pretty toxic.
A big plot hole: TJ constantly says that Meg's comebacks are witty and hilarious “gold” when, in fact, they are not any of those things. Massive oversight. I did kind of laugh when she called the killer out for saying something was a pun when it wasn't, though.
1.5 Agatha Christie references/5.
It's basically a YA thriller in which ten kids end up on an island for a house party during a storm, and people start dying. The end is, as always, typical ridiculous thriller, with an ridiculous villain. There are some annoying characters, there is some diversity (though everyone is straight and pretty enough). It's not great, it was silly, but...it was fun. I had a good time with it. Don't go in expecting brilliance. Just go in looking for a good time, and it's enjoyable.
Also, it's shorter than a lot of silly thrillers, so it just cuts to the chase and didn't waste my time, which I appreciate.
Started off pretty horribly. I hated the writing and it felt too cliché and whiny. I was going to give up but finally, the murders began and it got better. I don't think any of the characters were that particularly well written either. Overall, it was just okay, I liked it enough by the end but it wasn't great at all.
3.5 stars. There's just something about the writing style that really irks me. I feel like I would have enjoyed the book more if I hadn't already read [b:And Then There Were None 181132 And Then There Were None (Ten Little Indians) Agatha Christie http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172501383s/181132.jpg 3038872].
There seems to be two schools of thought about this one. If you read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, you will not like this story. Or...if, like me, you had not read the Christie, then you will enjoy this one. I find myself in the second camp. Although I really picked it up because I was in the mood for something scary and this is more of a murder mystery, I was turning the pages fast enough. The story was engaging, Meg was a great heroine, and the setting was awesome.
I figured it out early. It is what it is, and that did not stop me from finishing.
I was a little surprised not to see a thank you or a nod to Christie in the acknowledgments as it clearly is a retelling of someone else's story. But I guess you don't see that with every retelling of a fairy tale, so maybe it is the norm.
McNeil's voice is a good one, and there were some truly funny lines. I will recommend this to my mystery loving patrons.