100 Hours (100 Hours #1) by Rachel Vincent

100 Hours (100 Hours #1) 
by Rachel Vincent 

Source: eARC provided for review.

My rating: 2.5 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

In this sexy, pulse-pounding new duology by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent, a decadent spring break beach getaway becomes a terrifying survival story when six Miami teens are kidnapped.Maddie is beyond done with her cousin Genesis’s entitled and shallow entourage. Genesis is so over Miami’s predictable social scene with its velvet ropes, petty power plays, and backstabbing boyfriends. While Maddie craves family time for spring break, Genesis seeks novelty—like a last-minute getaway to an untouched beach in Colombia. And when Genesis wants something, it happens. But paradise has its price. Dragged from their tents under the cover of dark, Genesis, Maddie, and their friends are kidnapped and held for ransom deep inside the jungle—with no diva left behind. It all feels so random to everyone except Genesis. She knows they were targeted for a reason. And that reason is her.Now, as the hours count down, only one thing’s for certain: If the Miami hostages can’t thwart their captors’ plan, no one will make it out alive.

***

I’ve always been a huge fan of Rachel Vincent, but I was hesitant to read 100 hours because I’m latina and I wasn’t sure if the Latinx rep was well done, especially because this book touches a very sensitive topic, being the plot about a kidnap in a country with violent history.

I haven’t read any thoughts or reviews by Colombian reviewers, but personally, if this book were set in my country, I’d be angry. Because my country is violent. My country is dangerous. There are many gangs here and people fear for their lives every day. And you know what? My country is beautiful, too. It has beautiful places and beautiful people, but nobody knows this because people read online only the bad things about this place. So, I am not happy this book was set in Colombia.

That being said, 100 Hours by Rachel Vincent is a well written book, but I was expecting something more. For starters, I disliked almost every character.

Maddie, one of the two narrators, and her brother Ryan were the only characters I actually liked. The rest of them were shallow and frivolous. I get that it was supposed to be this way, I enjoy reading about rich and shallow kids sometimes (like The Thousandth Floor and Unrivaled), but I couldn’t connect with any of these characters, not even with the ones I liked.

And then there was the “thrilling and suspenseful” countdown. 100 Hours was a fast paced read and there were moments when it got me on the edge of my seat. The problem is that one of my favorite duologies ever is Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris and it has the same countdown format. And while 100 Hours was fast paced and intriguing, it wasn’t that thrilling or captivating or action packed.

Overall, I didn’t love or hate 100 Hours. I liked that the Spanish was good, and I don’t remember any mistake. My biggest problem was my lack of connection with the characters, and while I enjoyed some parts of this book, those parts weren’t enough to make me love it.