Honey Queen by Christina Mercer

Appropriate For: Ages 13 and up
Kindle: 270 Pages
Release Date: May 31, 2014
Publisher: Self-Published
Narration: First Person: Melaina
Genre: Mythology/
Contemporary Setting
Series: Stand-Alone

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Love is honey sweet, but it comes with a fatal sting . . .

Melaina Maris needs wings to fly the gap between loving Sam and her family’s ancient curse that forces carnal love and then kills the male lovers. She won’t let the same fate that killed her father befall another. She refuses to allow her goddess-created bloodline to continue. But there’s no easy way out, especially after the curse turns her into the Honey Queen—savior to honey bees—intensifying her charms.

To help her fulfill the curse’s demands in the least harmful way, her grandmother takes her to mate with terminally ill Boyd. But Boyd’s gay. And an expert in mythology. Instead of having sex, Melaina learns how she might summon the goddess who created the first ancestor bee-charmer and cursed her bloodline. Melaina's magic—tears to save honey bees from endangerment—could be enough to persuade the goddess to end the curse. But an unexpected discovery soon changes that hope, spinning Melaina into a swarm of love, friendship and death. 

My Review:

When I first read the synopsis, I was skeptical. Honey bees? Honey Queen? Authors really have to dig deep now to find any YA ideas that haven't already been bled dry. To be honest, I found the idea laughable at first, kind of like the theme of Hungry by Swain, though admittedly not to that extent. Who's ready to get hungry?  However, there was also a part of me that was intrigued, so I decided to give it a try.

Melaina's power over bees stems in Greek Mythology, from a goddess named Aera whose domain lies over honey bees and virginity. In order to shirk her duties as a goddess, Aera created a line of female descendants whose main purpose in life was to tend her honey bees and live out a life of chastity. However, things go awry when the first of her line falls in love with a demigod. They have a daughter, but not without consequences. Angered by the act of love, Aera curses the family. From that day on, the mothers are cursed to have carnal urges for men until they get pregnant and continue the long line of daughters. To make matters worse, the men fall ill soon after and die as soon as the baby is born.

Aera always needs someone to care for her honeybees. For Melaina, that isn't a problem, since it's her passion in life, as it was for her mother, grandmother, and so on. However, another downside of the curse is that if she leaves the honey bees for a long period of time, she eventually withers and dies. Uplifting, isn't it? 

As for Melaina's character, I could never connect with her. She showed compassion and thought of others, but it was all on the surface. I never felt it. Throughout the entire book, her thought processes consisted of, "I hate this goddess," "I really, really like Sam, but I can't be with him, because it'll kill him," "I must seclude myself in misery," "What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do?" It was irritating to hear the same thoughts over and over again. 

One time, she sees a really hot guy and tries to restrain herself. But then, she thinks, You know what? I can prove to this goddess bitch that I'm above this curse. I'll just kiss him..just a little bit. Then I'll back off, I promise. *Insert eye roll* Like that's gonna happen. You already know that you're raging hormonal, yet you decide to tempt fate anyways? 

The romance wasn't much of a romance. There were some flashbacks of when Melaina and Sam were kids, but that wasn't enough for me to want them to be together. If there were more, perhaps I would've understood their friendship better. The lust curse hit Melaina pretty early into the story, so the conversations between Melaina and Sam consisted of more making out than anything. When they weren't making out, Sam was knocking on the door or basically stalking her, trying to get her to talk to him, which eventually led to more of the aforementioned making out. The depth in their relationship was nonexistent.

Overall, Honey Queen was a superficial story. Things were happening on the surface, but they all felt fake and unreal. I can't even explain it. I give props to the author for the honey bee theme though. It's definitely a breath of fresh air, and Greek mythology is always a good thing. The writing wasn't bad, but the explanations were confusing at times. Perhaps this just wasn't my cup of tea.

Heroine- 2/5
Romance- 2/5
Action- 3/5
World-Building- 3.5/5
Writing- 3/5
Overall- 2.5/5

Going Down In Flames by Chris Cannon

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 407 Pages
Release Date: June 30, 2014
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Narration: Third Person: Bryn
Genre: Paranormal/
Contemporary Setting
Paranormal Type: Dragons/Paladins

Going Down In Flames Series
Book One: Going Down in Flames
Book Two: Unknown
Book Three: Unknown

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Goodreads Synopsis:

If her love life is going down in flames, she might as well spark a revolution.

Finding out on your sixteenth birthday you’re a shape-shifting dragon is tough to swallow. Being hauled off to an elite boarding school is enough to choke on.

Since Bryn is the only crossbreed at the Institute for Excellence, all eyes are on her, but it’s a particular black dragon, Zavien, who catches her attention.

Zavien is tired of the Council’s rules. Segregated clans, being told who to love, and close-minded leaders make freedom of choice almost impossible. The new girl with the striped hair is a breath of fresh air, and with Bryn’s help, they may be able to change the rules.

At the Institute, old grudges, new crushes, and death threats are all part of a normal day for Bryn. She’ll need to learn to control her dragon powers if she wants to make it through her first year at school. But even focusing on staying alive is difficult when you’re falling for someone you can't have.

My Review:

Going into the book, I already knew that the protagonist was most likely going to be a spoiled kid who thought the world revolved solely around her, and I was right. Countless times throughout the book, she threw tantrums, referred to herself as acting like a five year old, and raged whenever she didn't get what she wanted. Her version of rage being shooting balls of fire at people she didn't like. Another immature thing she had a tendency for was doing the exact opposite of what people told her to do. We see this often enough in other stories when headstrong female leads come into question, but her version of rebelling was absolutely ridiculous. For example, in the beginning, she refused to do something that she didn't want to do. However, after someone agreed with her and told her not to do said something, she was all, "Screw you, I'll do it if I feel like doing it!" *Facepalm* In the least, she realized that she was acting like a child, and further down along the road, restrained herself to some degree of success. I guess that counts as some sort of character development.

Dragons. Freaking awesome mythical beings. After my How to Train Your Dragon phase, I've been a bit obsessed with them, which is why I became interested in this book in the first place. However, the world building for this was....not as amazing as I had hoped. I mean, it wasn't bad, but at the same time, it wasn't great either. There was no intricacy whatsoever. Dragons are classified by their skin color, their skin color specifying their skills and talents. The protagonist, being a mix breed between a Red and Blue dragon, unsurprisingly had both their qualities, fire breathing and ice shooting. It all felt too by the book. There was nothing that was surprising or made me fangirl.

The romance was almost comical. The classic everyone starts crushing on the protagonist sort of plot, which, in my opinion, is confusing, because I really don't see anything appealing about her character. The main love interest was just creepy, at least I would think he was if I was in her shoes. You just meet the dude, and then he begins stalking you. Like literally, he was always climbing through her window, standing by her door, or doing something else vaguely alarming. Another thing that irritated me was how he ALWAYS seemed to be profusely begging for Bryn's forgiveness when he wasn't the one to blame. So many times I wanted to shake some sense into him.

The writing was pretty well done. It flowed well and the jokes here and there were funny. Nothing ever slipped awkwardly and thoughts blended very well. The only thing that stood out to me was the author's overuse of the word "growled."

Overall, Going Down in Flames was an entertaining and quick read. Although I despised the protagonist 99% of the time and thought the dragon lore was too simple, I had fun with it, and it kept my attention. I probably won't be reading the sequel, but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading this either.

Heroine- 2/5
Romance- 2/5
Action- 4/5
World-Building- 2/5
Writing- 3.5/5
Overall- 2.5/5

The Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Paperback: 492 Pages
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Henry Holt
Narration: First Person: Lia,
Third Person: Rafe, Kaden
Genre: Fantasy/Magic
Source: Library

The Remnant Chronicles:
Book One: The Kiss of Deception
Book Two: The Heart of Betrayal
Book Three: Unknown

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A princess must find her place in a reborn world.

She flees on her wedding day.

She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor's secret collection.

She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.

She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of Morrighan.

The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can't abide. Like having to marry someone she's never met to secure a political alliance.

Fed up and ready for a new life, Lia flees to a distant village on the morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels herself falling in love

My Review:

DNF at Pg. 336 

Because of this, my review only reflects the portion that I read.

The pacing is so unbearably slow. The whole book, at least to the point I read, basically just revolved around her everyday life. Great. You Work. And pick berries. HURRAH! The setting and the theme were both intriguing, which is why I was pretty interested in the beginning of the novel, but it went straight downhill from there. Most things weren't explained well, if they were explained at all. The book itself had more unrealistic happenings than realistic ones. I found it hard to believe how easy it was for the freaking First Daughter to escape so easy. And after she escaped, only 3 people were able to find her? Everyone goes on and on about her skills in tracking and covering her tracks, but I highly doubt it. From the way she described her getaway, concealing her path was the last thing on her mind. Screaming at the top of your lungs? Yep, that's not telling at all. 

Another thing I was irritated by was her utter lack of concern for her kingdom. Yes, she's been shaped and molded and told what to do and ignored her whole life, but even if she's had that sort of childhood, wouldn't it be decent for her to at least consider the needs of her people over her own desires and dreams? People are dying, and all she cares about is finding her one true love. Which of course brings us to the love triangle. To be honest, I spent the entire first half of the story believing Rafe was Kaden and Kaden was Rafe. So either Pearson's writing was weird or I'm terribly unobservant. I mean, in my defense, their POV titles were The Assassin and The Prince. When Lia actually crossed paths with them, the way they acted made me automatically assume that Rafe was the assassin and Kaden was the prince. Imagine my surprise when the POVs switched near the end to Rafe and Kaden instead of The Prince and The Assassin. As I said, the fault probably lies solely on me, but this has never happened to me before, so I don't even know anymore. Either way, both boys were blah to me. Insta-love connection kills my happiness. That's all I have to say to that.

Update: I finally understand that the POV names were The Assassin and The Prince for a reason and that the author wanted us to be almost as much in the dark about the characters' identities as Lia. Hitting myself at the moment, because of how slow I feel. I give props to the author for introducing the characters in such an innovative fashion; however, I still don't think it was executed well. It would've been mind-blowing if Pearson dropped tiny clues here and there about their true identities so that in the end I could've had one of those Aha! moments. But I really didn't feel it, at least for the portion I read. Maybe things were explained out better at the end? 

Cover- 6/5 Swooning over the cover. *.*

Heroine- 2.5/5

Romance- 2/5 Insta-Connection, Unrealistic

Action- 2/5

Writing- 3/5 Writing style wasn't bad, but it was difficult at times to follow the author's train of thought.

Overall- 2.5/5

Control by Lydia Kang

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 393 Pages
Release Date: December 26, 2013
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Narration: First Person: Zelia
Genre: Dystopian
Source: Library
Trailer: Click Here

The Control Series
Book One: Control
Book Two: Catalyst
Book Three: Unknown

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Goodreads Synopsis:

An un-putdownable thriller for fans of Uglies

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.

A spiraling, intense, romantic story set in 2150—in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms—this is about the human genetic “mistakes” that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.

My Review:

Cover Thoughts: Really digging the cover. Love the font of the title and the color scheme they used.

Other Thoughts: After reading Control, I still have no idea how the title or the slogan ties in with the novel. Maybe Control means the control group of an experiment? If that's the only way it connects to the novel, that's kind of sad. And "There are no accidents?" Not even a smidgen of a clue there.

I dove into Control with mixed feelings, so I can't say if it met my expectations or not. It was definitely confusing at first, no doubt in that. Lydia takes no time dawdling and immediately jumps into the stream of things, which was a good and bad thing. Good, because I wasn't stuck with a dragging info-dump, yet bad because I had no idea what I was reading about.

"Down the hallway, I smell my little sister walk by. This month, it's Persian freesia. 

Dad says nothing about her pricey scent downloads."

First time around, I skimmed this part and just thought, "Ok, so she likes perfume." But after a few more sentences, I was wondering, "Wait, what did she just say?" It took me a while to even realize that this story took place so far into the future. I mean, I knew that this world was going to have all sorts of genetic mutations, but for some reason, I still expected the world to be more modern rather than futuristic.

Another thing I had trouble coming to terms with was the sometimes, who am I kidding, most of the time irrational reactions the characters had to traumatic situations. For example, when Dylia and Zelia's dad died, both of them were upset. However, after a few hours, Dylia is fake-crying and primping herself up to catch a guy's attention? Geez. Adding onto the irrational reactions, things just....didn't make sense. Questionable actions were taken, yet the obvious questions weren't asked. People were happy to let others get away with things that seemed highly suspicious. 

The romance was utterly ridiculous as well. Not a classic Insta-love romance. Nope. Instead, it was a Insta-Hate THEN Love romance. And it was so predictable that I almost flung the novel across the room. As soon as the protagonist set eyes upon the "resident bad boy," I knew she was a goner before she even knew his name. Things went downhill straight from there. Shortly after they got over their mutual, seemingly intrinsic hate for each other, the love interest suddenly feels this weird, spontaneous need to protect her above all costs! Gah.

Even though I mostly disliked Control, there were still some aspects that I found rather fascinating. For example, the mutation/genetic modifications. Instead of the superpowers you would usually think of: invisibility, telepathy, telekinesis, teleporting, there were weird mutations like: extra ligaments, extra brains, or highly sensitive nose glands. Admittedly, I missed the old variety of superpowers, but I applaud Lydia for her originality.

Heroine- 2.5/5

Romance- 1.5/5

Please, let us never speak of this again.

Action- 2.5/5

Writing- 3/5

Overall- 2.5/5

Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier (M)

Reading Level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 410 Pages
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books
for Young Readers
Narration: First Person: Neryn
Genre: Fantasy
Challenge: None
Source: Library

The Shadowfell Series:
Book One: Shadowfell
Book Two: Raven Flight
Book Three: The Caller

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Goodreads Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill--a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk--Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec. 

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

My Review:
Started out strong, but failed to keep hold of my attention. Basically, 90% of the novel involved walking from one place to another. Running away from something life-threatening was considered an action scene. *Gasp* The protagonist, Neryn, was the type of strong, courageous lead I expected after reading the synopsis, but.....I couldn't seem to connect with her. On paper, she was my ideal heroine, yet in my head, she felt two dimensional and hollow. Intelligence wise, I'm proud to say that she doesn't suffer from TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) syndrome. Instead of letting a pair of dreamy eyes lower her inhibitions, she remained cautious and always inspected the evidence first, thinking logically instead of emotionally. The world building was really well done. I loved the different descriptions of the fey and the accents certain characters had. On the other hand, the plot was unoriginal. 

Evil king terrorizing the kingdom in his quest for power? Check. 
Protagonist with bad-ass skills who's destined to save the world? Check. 

Nothing new there. Although Shadowfell had decent world-building and a capable, but admittedly lacking, female lead, it didn't satisfy me. Throughout the book, I found myself skimming the pages, out of my mind with boredom. Honestly, I'm surprised I even had the tenacity to finish it. Won't be reading the sequel.

Overall- 2.5/5

The Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 384 Pages
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher: Dial
Narration: Third Person: Everyone
Genre: Fantasy/Time Travel
Challenge: None
Source: ARCycling

The Chronoptika Series:
Book One: The Obsidian Mirror
Book Two: The Slanted Worlds (3/18/14)
Book Three: Untitled

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Jake's father disappears while working on mysterious experiments with the obsessive, reclusive Oberon Venn. Jake is convinced Venn has murdered him. But the truth he finds at the snow-bound Wintercombe Abbey is far stranger ... The experiments concerned a black mirror, which is a portal to both the past and the future. Venn is not alone in wanting to use its powers. Strangers begin gathering in and around Venn's estate: Sarah - a runaway, who appears out of nowhere and is clearly not what she says, Maskelyne - who claims the mirror was stolen from him in some past century. There are others, a product of the mirror's power to twist time. And a tribe of elemental beings surround this isolated estate, fey, cold, untrustworthy, and filled with hate for humans. But of them all, Jake is hell-bent on using the mirror to get to the truth. Whatever the cost, he must learn what really happened to his father.

My Review:

Catherine Fisher is a pretty famous author, best known for her novel, Incarceron, which follows the story of a boy and his dashing escape from a futuristic prison that seems to take on a life of its own. Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I attempted reading it, and in result, became nothing but befuddled by her wacky characters and overwhelming plot. Back then, I blamed my utter confusion to my young age, but now, I'm not entirely sure that my reason was correct. Because even while reading The Obsidian Mirror at the age of sixteen, I had trouble understanding the message Catherine was trying to convey and what tone she wanted her characters to take on. This was, by far, the most confusing novel that I've ever read.

The premise was nothing short of fascinating, introducing innovative elements to the YA world such as time-traveling mirrors, Shee, Djinn, and Replicants of past people, or animals for that matter. Unfortunately, the author executed these intricate ideas very poorly, and I had no idea what she was trying to say the majority of the time. She threw way too many complicated ideas at you at once, not bothering to explain why or how they came to be, which in turn overwhelmed the reader and left you grasping at straws. In fact, if you asked me right now, I still wouldn't be able to explain to you what I just read. 

The one thing that annoyed me the most was the writing style. I was fine, though nowhere near ecstatic, with the way Catherine strung sentences together. They flowed alright and never felt stilted or awkward, but I wasn't a fan of the constant changing of point of views. Although the story always stayed in third person, the author's focus switched between more than six characters with absolutey no warning preceding it. One paragraph could focus on Jake while the next one focused on his godfather, Oberon Venn. There were even a couple of cases where she switched point of views within a single paragraph, which only served to confuse me even more than I already was. At times, you only had the knowledge of the character being talked about and at others you had an omniscient point of view.

Since there really wasn't a main character, because the novel's focus jumped around so much, I'll just tell you my overall feel for all of them. They had no depth whatsoever. While the novel had a theme and writing style that even a freaking genius would have a difficult time understanding, the characters were two-dimensional and confined to their specific archetypes. None of them were even the slightest bit sympathetic to one another's goal throughout the whole length of the novel. Two in particular were ready to sacrifice the fate of the ENTIRE world, for one person, without a single feeling of remorse or regret. And the others? Didn't even seem to feel concerned about the coming apocalypse and did nothing to try and stop it, with the exception of one. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure this is NOT how a normal and realistic person would react in a situation like this. They all had one-track minds and would stop at nothing, no matter the cost, to achieve their ultimate goals.

There was always something happening to move the plot along, but for some reason, I always felt detached from it. As if I was watching myself read it on the sidelines. In the beginning, I was alright with the action, because I actually understood what was happening, but as the novel progressed, things became more and more confusing. And the more confusing the plot got, the less I felt invested in reading it.

Overall, this book had a super interesting premise, but unfortunately, it fell flat to me because of how poorly it was executed. The characters were all two-dimensional, had absolutely no depth, and apparently weren't capable of feeling sympathy. If you're a fan of Catherine's Incarceron series, you might enjoy this one more than I did, but if you aren't, I urge you to find something worth your time.

Romance- N/A
Comedy- N/A
Action- 2.5/5
Writing- 2.5/5
Overall- 2.5/5

(M) Prophecy Girl by Cecily White

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Paperback: 368 Pages
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Narration: First Person: Amelie
Genre: Paranormal/Demons
Challenge: Paranormal

Angel Academy Series:
Book One: Prophecy Girl
Book Two: Unknown
Book Three: Unknown

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Amelie Bennett. . . . Ending the world, one prophecy at a time. 

I was born to slay Crossworld demons. Big black flappy ones, little green squirmy ones. Unfortunately, the only thing getting slain these days is my social life. With my high school under attack, combat classes intensifying, and Academy instructors dropping right and left, I can barely get my homework done, let alone score a bondmate before prom. Then he shows up. Jackson Smith-Hailey. Unspeakably hot, hopelessly unattainable, and dangerous in all the right ways. Sure, he’s my trainer. And okay, maybe he hates me. Doesn’t mean I’ll ignore the wicked Guardian chemistry between us. It’s crazy! Every time I’m with him, my powers explode. Awesome, right? Wrong. Now my teachers think I’m the murderous Graymason destined to bring down our whole race of angelbloods. Everyone in New Orleans is hunting me. The people I trusted want me dead. Jack and I have five days to solve the murders, prevent a vampire uprising, and thwart the pesky prophecy foretelling his death by my hand. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Getting it done without falling in love. . . that might take a miracle.

My Mini Review:

Feelings after reading this book? Perplexed. Confused. Flabbergasted. I could barely keep up with the story and some things just didn't make a lick of sense. Although the protagonist was strong at times and had a great sense of humor, she clearly lacked in the decision making department. She acted downright idiotic at times and was way too reckless for my tastes. As they say, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and unfortunately, she crossed it more than once. I didn't mind (too much) her instant connection with Jackson, but her infatuation with him as the story progressed grated on my nerves. At every fork of the road, no matter if she was doing something as mundane as brushing her hair or running away from things that were trying to kill her, she always had Jackson on her mind, wondering if he approved of her actions or berating herself for acting like a complete fool in front of him. Which she did pretty often. The comedy was hilarious and actually induced a feel laughs from me now and then, however, there were some times I wished the protagonist would stop taking everything as a joke. I loved the idea and concept of the novel, I just wish it was better executed. 

Heroine- 2/5
Romance- 2/5
Action- 3.5/5
Comedy- 4/5 
The jokes were funny, but I wished she took some of the situations more....seriously.
Writing- 4/5
I had no issues with the writing style.
Overall- 2.5/5

Ten by Gretchen McNeil

Reading Level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 304 pages
Release Date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray                   
Genre: Contemporary/Thriller
Series: Standalone

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Amazon Summary:

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—three days on Henry Island at an exclusive house party. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their own reasons for wanting to be there, which involve their school's most eligible bachelor, T. J. Fletcher, and look forward to three glorious days of boys, bonding, 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 outside, the teens are cut off from the rest of the world. No electricity, no phones, no Internet, and a ferry that isn't scheduled to return for three 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?

My Review:

Ten......was just not my cup of tea. Since And Then There Were None was one of the only novels I enjoyed reading for school, I thought I would love this even more, since I would be able to connect better with teens rather then adults. Sadly, I was mistaken. Maybe if I didn't read And Then There Were None first, I might have enjoyed Ten more but I could just never get engrossed with the action. Even when people were dying, I was just skimming over the words. I couldn't relate to any of the characters either, the only character I even remotely liked was T.J.

However I did not see that ending coming! I tried to analyze and dissect every character to find out who the murderer was and I still didn't get it right! I have no doubt that there will be tons of people who will love this thriller, I just wasn't one of them.

Heroine- 2/5
Romance- 3/5
Action- 3/5 There was alot of action but I just couldn't get into it.
Comedy- 2/5
Overall 2.5/5

 

An Advanced Readers Copy was provided by Goodreads First Reads for a honest and thoughtful review.

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