Yeah, I finished it and I found it interesting, but I don't think it was particularly well-written or plotted. I do, however, believe that my students will read the hell out of this title! I am soooooo gonna purchase it and I feel certain it won't be on the shelf much.

Dee Guerrera wakes up in the middle of a nightmare. She's been sentenced to live out the remainder of her days (which won't be many) on Alcatraz 2.0, a modern reality app where convicted criminals are sent to be hunted by one of many authorized serial killer personalities. With a reality television star elected President of the United States and the Department of Justice sold to the highest bidder, convicted criminals have little hope of surviving until an appeal date. Initially Dee isn't hopeful, but as things seem to go her way, she aims to prove her innocence. On an island of serial killers hunting down convicted criminals, is there anyone Dee can trust or anyone who will believe her?

THOUGHTS: Teens hungry for fast-paced, serial killer fiction will rejoice with this YA title. #MurderTrending is an essential purchase where horror books are requested. Gruesome descriptions of death throughout the novel make this suitable for mature students.

With 'reality' television so prevalent in society, the premise of this book is dark and disturbing - and yet, if you squint hard enough, you could almost see this happening in the not too distant future.  Which is terrifying.

Knowing that the characters could be killed at any moment makes this read even more thrilling, and you may want to remain detached.  Which is a difficult thing to do, because some of these characters are so charming (Ethan).  The cast of executioners is especially entertaining in a twisted way, with each of them having their own style of dress and preferred killing techniques.  Reading the varying opinions of the show in streaming fan discussions presents different theories about what may actually be going on, and the odds of the criminals  staying alive at the end of some chapters is a nice touch.

I struggled a bit with Dee's sudden transformation from a wide-eyed newbie to a hardened badass, but it did offer some rewarding moments at certain points of the story.  

With gruesome scenes, gore, and some language, this isn't a book I'd recommend to the younger YA crowd, but for the older readers, this is a compelling, unique concept that offers several surprises.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

#MurderTrending is The Hunger Games for the Trump era.. Timely, fast-paced, and satisfyingly brutal. This will fly of the shelves of most YA collections.

I received an e-galley from the publisher via Netgalley. The views expressed in my review are my own.

#MurderTrending is absolutely full of potential. The concept is absolutely amazing. Everything just needs a bit of fine tuning. The logistics of Alcatraz 2.0 were a bit unbelievable for me and I think that brought down the rating of this book the most for me.

This book starts out right away full of action and it stays like that pretty much the whole book. Maybe a chapter here or there is a tad bit slow, but we needed some character development of course. Dee was a nice, strong character but her personality fell a bit flat for me. The rest of her friends in Alcatraz 2.0 all had plenty of potential but needed a bit more development as well. The different "painiacs" in the book were the most interesting to me and I wish we learned a bit more about them since they seemed to have the most unique and thought out stories out together and weren't used to their full potential in my opinion.

Other than that the story was still entertaining and action packed even if it was very predictable. I would potentially recommend this book to friends as a fun and quick read.

Fun, suspenseful read! Gretchen McNeil has a gift for blending humor with horror. This book kept me guessing, and was just creepy enough to give goosebumps but didn't give me nightmares. Perfect!

I feel like maybeeeee a 4.5, but I need to sit on it for a bit.

I honestly don't even know where to begin discussing this book. It's so intense and gruesome. I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. this morning finishing it because I could not bring myself to put it down! The entire synopsis of this book was extremely intriguing to me from the get go. Capital punishment lawfully being done by government hired assassins on Alcatraz 2.0 while citizens watch the murders take place on a mobile app so the government can profit off of it? Uhhhh.... Unfortunately doesn't sound too "far future" to me. I do love that ultimately this book shows the lack of depth we carry these days when it comes to entertainment and how we'll blindly follow just about anything.

ANYWAYS, on to my actual thoughts. The whole plot idea is amazing to me and I felt that was executed very well. My issues arise with the characters and pacing of the book. The main character really lacked ANY sort of development throughout the story. I would have liked to see Dee struggle a bit more to become the badass she is near the end. That kind of appeared out of no where IMO. The secondary characters I actually really liked and thought they developed nicely. They all attributed to the story in perfect ways and no one felt unnecessary. The pacing also threw me off. The last third I would say of the book felt super rushed and was WAYYYY too over dramatic for me. I actually chuckled at a couple scenes. If those were fixed this would EASILY be a five star read for me. I loved the entire premise of the book, there were just some spots where it fell flat.

I do have a couple things to add that are spoilers so uhh, don't click if you don't want to be spoiled?
[ Is is weird that I sort of wished, when Dee was fighting Molly the Mauler, that she brought up knowing who she really is. I thought that would have been so interesting and the live chat feed would have gone off, but it never came. I also felt like Dee and Gyles relationship was kind of strange. Maybe it's the lack of character development, but I couldn't get into it. It wasn't insta-love and yet I felt like it was rushed, especially near the end. Just me??

This. Book. Is. EVERYTHING! It was unlike anything I’d ever read before. Hilarious and super creepy! Quintessential Gretchen McNeil. A must read!

What a thoroughly gripping book. I had not read the synopsis so I wasn't sure what the story was about, but I could not stop reading it until it was finished. While it seemed like a vague mix of various movies, there were many twist and turns that kept me from wondering what would happen next. Alcatraz is always a good backdrop for a psychothriller. It's a little disturbing, however, having these teenagers facing imminent danger and fighting to the death in some many different ways. While it is fiction, it is a scary reflection of where society may be going in the future if we are not careful, especially with the variety of "reality" shows and "fake" news.

This book was a lot of fun. It was action packed and fast paced throughout the whole thing. The backstory could have been better/more believable but it is what it is. I'd say this book is kind of like the Purge movies and a bit Hunger Games like. Readers will eat it up quick!

This was the first book that i have read by this author and WOW.
When i read the synopisis of this book it really intrigued me to want to read it. I don't really read many thrillers but there was something about this one that i wanted too read.
It was a fast paced book i couldn't put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen. there was some twists and turns that didnt see coming.
Alcatraz 2.0 is where criminals are sent to be hunted and killed, rather just being sent to prison. They are then given a constume to wear so that that people at home can watch an see what happens. It's kind of like Hunger games/Big Brother.
I was suprised to know that this book was part of Disney. Some parts of it was really gruesome for Disney imo.
Aside from the gore I think that this one your going to want to read.

I'm not a big fan of thrillers, but my students flock to them. I really enjoyed McNeil's Ten--it was fast-paced and fun, and I actually didn't see the reveal coming (which is sometimes rare in YA). So when I had the opportunity to get an ARC of this one, I decided to give it a shot.

The premise is outlandish (capital punishment is now legal and takes place on a reality show where a team of assassins hunt and kill convicted killers), and the action is both gruesome and ridiculous. It's so unbelievable to think that these teenagers somehow manage to not only survive but take down seasoned killers--and yet I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN.

McNeil just has a way of writing suspenseful, engaging action. And though some things seemed pretty obvious, there were enough twists and turns that I didn't feel cheated or bored. The characters aren't particularly developed, but there's barely time to think about it because the plot just keeps on moving along. Some of the killings are pretty icky (for me, anyway), but definitely interesting and original. There's a little bit of political judgement...kind of a "this could happen in the not-so-distant-future" attitude, and also pretty hard look at the internet and what people will accept as "entertainment," but it doesn't feel preachy.

Also...once you've read it, the cover is absolutely AWESOME. And horrible. But AWESOME.

This really feels like a very fresh concept that my students would enjoy. It taps into an extreme version of reality TV, social media, and the bystander effect. General society just sits back and cheers on depraved punishments. I would have liked a bit more development of the main character, but I thought it was a really memorable concept.

The cover and description caught my eye for this book.
I really enjoyed the story, it was fast paced and kept my attention. Graphic but appropriate for the age group and story line. I think this will go over very well with the YA audience, especially with the tie in to reality tv and twitter.

3.5 stars

In a world where The Purge and The Hunger Games collide— #MURDERTRENDING shows us a society crippled by reality television and instant social media validation. Seriously folks, this book is a lot of fun and all too real for me. Dee Guerrera is wrongfully convicted for the murder of her step-sister Monica and sent to Alcatraz 2.0 for punishment. Alcatraz 2.0 is a man-made prison island off the coast of San Francisco where the worst convicts imaginable are sent to live out their days in fear. They must work, they are provided housing, and they are able to maintain their lives accordingly. However, the prison is run by The Postman—businessman and reality television producer who enlists the help of a rolodex of infamous serial killers to provide excruciating executions of the convicts; all captured on the The Postman app that viewers can tune into.

Dee awakens on Alcatraz 2.0 and immediately realizes that she's fallen victim to the show and must fight in order to survive. She knows that she was wrongfully convicted and wants to prove her innocence before it's too late. She meets a group of other young, attractive people in Alcatraz 2.0 and starts an alliance with them. #DeathRowBreakfastClub Time is running out for the newly established group, because as everybody knows—nobody gets out of Alcatraz 2.0 alive.

Gretchen McNeil, I truly love the sick and twisted world you provided in #MURDERTRENDING . I really didn't think this book would be as fun as you made it for us. The pacing of #MURDERTRENDING is fast, action-packed, and edge-of-your-seat thrilling. The story starts off with a bang, but it doesn't stop from there so I urge you to plan the day accordingly (seriously, this book is unputdownable!).

I had a few critiques about the story, which is why I couldn't give #MURDERTRENDING a higher rating. I felt that the backstory was a little weak and unbelievable. The foundation to the overall arc of the story was a little flat and could've been handled in more detail. I can't comment more about that without ruining the story for you, so after you read #MURDERTRENDING , talk to me! I also felt that there were serious plot holes and continuity issues that were made to keep the story going at it's fast-paced level. I wanted more story foundation, rather than continuous action—I actually rolled my eyes several times at how the situation was randomly handled and that definitely affected my rating. Maybe if the backstory was handled more and the secondary characters had a POV, the development of the story could have been more persuasive for me.

Even though I had some critiques about the story, #MURDERTRENDING was fabulous in the most disgusting way possible! It's very, very, very graphic at times so if you can't stomach gruesome violence, maybe give this one a pass! My boyfriend thinks I'm totally messed up in the head for enjoying this book, but what can I say?! I urge you to pick this story up if you're interested in a YA story with an original spin on a dystopian society.

P.S.: Don't think I didn't notice all the Rupaul's Drag Race references! Love, love, loved that!

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #MURDERTRENDING will be released August 7, 2018.

Dee wakes up in an abandoned warehouse, suddenly aware that she has been delivered to Alcatraz 2.0. She knows that soon she will be killed by one of many infamous serial killers and her death will be streamed live on the Postman app. When Dee accidentally survives and causes the death of Prince Slycer, she knows her days are numbered. Can she stay alive long enough to prove her innocence?

#Murdertrending was a great survival book about serial killers, but it was handled in a truly humorous fashion. The development of the serial killers characters was well done, and the description of the deaths does the topic justice. An entertaining read (with very little romance) that will appeal to readers looking for action, adventure, and humor.

This book surprised me a little. I knew going in that it was going to get detailed and graphic, but I couldn't wrap my head around how gorry and focused on death it was for a YA book. Prisoners sent to an island to die for their crimes as a reality show is not too far fetched for a futuristic book, but since these were teens sent to boost ratings, it was a little over the top. It is a really quick read and you do find yourself wondering how it will all end. Young adults that enjoy horror movies would enjoy this book.

After being framed for the murder of her stepsister, Dee Guerrera is sent to Alcatraz 2.0, a prison that's also a reality show where convicted criminals are hunted down by state-sanctioned serial killers. This book was utterly ridiculous in a good way. I wasn't invested in the conspiracy theory aspect of the book, the story itself didn't make a lot of sense, and everything that happened was too perfectly coincidental -- but I had so much fun reading it!

#MurderTrending has to be one of the strangest books I've ever read. Combining a bizarre amalgam of internet culture, surreal gore, and Disney allusions, there were several moments that I found myself extremely put off. That said, I read it in less than 48-hours. This alone tells you that it is a compulsive, popcorn-munching read. However, I couldn't help feeling that there was something extremely voyeuristic about it, like by reading the novel I was like the #Postmantics in the story. There's something pretty disturbing about relating to the viewership of what basically amounts the equivalent of a YA snuff film. Then again, it's not so different than Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers or Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games. #MurderTrending simply embraces our thirst for the macabre.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish this book. The book throws you right in at the beginning, and I would have liked a bit more build up. The silly names for the villains and locations were off-putting. I didn't think I would be able to connect with the main character so I put the book down.