Staff reporter/Vansh Sahni

If you are thinking or going to read the novel #murdertrending book by Gretchen McNeil, get ready for an amazing adventure.

#murdertrending is a story with horror, deep stories, mysteries, and shocking plot twists. The book’s genre is “Dystopian Fiction” and it’s all about survival.

McNeil tells a story about a 17-year-old, Dee Guerrera, who is a high school senior, who was accused of killing her stepsister. Instead of getting the death penalty, Dee was in for the worst. She was sent to Alcatraz 2.0, a refurbished, updated and functioning prison. This jail is not ordinary, and no one can escape it. The jail is filled with cameras everywhere, every location, and it’s being live-streamed all the time. The millions of fans and audiences get to watch the worst of the world’s serial killers kill each other. Alcatraz 2.0 is the brainchild of a character known only as “The Postman”. The story is about Dee and the friends that she made as she came to Alcatraz 2.0. It’s all about staying alive as any day, could be anyone’s last day on the island.

Only 339 pages are in this book, about 70 small chapters.

The book has some heartbreaking moments, some thrilling moments, and unexpected moments. I personally really enjoyed this book. Even after reading this book after a week, I still couldn’t accept what I have read. It was a kind of a book that I have never read before. The plot twists always kept me interested and made me read more.  

The story does have some inappropriate language and many tragic moments. Hence, this book would not be a nice option for anyone 13 or younger. The main audience would be from age 14 to 19 years old.

#mudertrending was interesting and well-crafted. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10, and definitely recommend this book for anyone that likes horror and mystery stories.

There are actually three parts to this story, and this book is the first one. This book was really fun to read, hence I am going to read the other two books to see what happens next.