Joint Review: The Rules by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Author: Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie
Publisher: Delacourte Books for Young Readers
Date of publication: June 2015

Narrated by alternating unreliable narrators, this dark thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect. It's Saw meets I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Junior Robin Brisset has no idea what she's in for when she accepts an invitation to one of Callabrese High's most exclusive parties. And when the trademark scavenger hunt begins, Robin must go against every rule she's lived by to survive.

The Rules reminded me of an 80s teenage slasher film. You know the type? The ones where you never know who to trust, teens keep splitting up to investigate or find a missing person or strange noise. Ultimately, that never ends up being a good decision. The story is told through several alternating points of view.  While it was hard to keep track of the characters in the beginning, it gets easier as they start dying off.  Each chapter opens with one of that person's rules of life.  Unfortunately those rules don't always help them.

I ended up really liking this book.  I found was completely off base when the book ended and I loved it!  I would definitely keep this to over 16 crowd.  If it was a movie it would probably get an R rating because of sexual and violent content.

This book reminded me a lot of the movie Scream with "The Rules".  It seemed like no one followed the rules for survival set forth in that movie.  I also really liked the story.  It kept me guessing throughout the whole book.  I thought I had it figured out at least twice and only to find out I was totally wrong in the end.  

I had the same issue with being able to keep track of who all the characters were.  It was easier towards the end of the book.  I would definitely recommend this book to the older YA readers.  It was a lot of fun.