If I had to articulate the issues I had with this book, and this is a review so I should, it boils down to the unrelenting dislike I had for the entire cast. Not that they all didn't have various reasons for their disastrous personalities, but sweet stars I wanted to throttle them.

Genesis, aka I Have Plot Convenient Hidden Depths and Talents.

Maddie, aka everyone I love is taken from me!

Holden, aka typical rich boy diva whiner.

Ryan, aka I must protect my sister...or at least make a good show of it.

The summary wrecks part of the mystery why these kids are taken hostage - I think if I hadn't known going in Genesis was a big reason for it, I probably would have cared more to unravel the why of it.

I can't speak towards the culture represented (Colombia), as I know very little about it or the country, but the judgy attitude of Maddie's (in regards to her Uncle Hernan and cousin Genesis) and Genesis's casual dismissal of her heritage except when it suited her (all part of her hidden depths by the way) rubbed me wrong.

In the end while I didn't hate this, I found no reason to continue the trilogy either sadly. ( )

My teenaged years were filled with Rachel Vincent books. I read through Soul Screamers and The Shifters series far too many times to admit and I adored them. In recent years, I haven't found as many Rachel Vincent books out and about in my book buying journey, so I was pleasantly surprised to find 100 Hours through Book Outlet (one of my guilty pleasure websites for cheap books - not a sponsored call out, a "I've had no money and if you don't either, you have options" call out).

100 Hours follows a group of teens, very rich teens, as they go to Columbia for Spring Break. Does that sound like the smartest idea? Well, it depends. How much do you know about Columbia? In the timeline of this book, there's a lot of hostility between the US and Columbia, so that would be something to consider. Generally speaking, no, it wasn't a smart idea for them to go out on their own in Columbia, try to go on adventures without licensed/professional tour guides, and then try to be snarky about their richness.

Anywho, they get kidnapped. Surprise, surprise, right? Spring Break gone sour. The team has to work together to try to get away, but that won't happen in this book... because it's a duology.

My thoughts:

1. Man, these kids are SNARKY. I like Maddie, but Genesis, Neda, and pretty much any girl that isn't Maddie are snarky queen bees that remind me of the girls we all hated in high school. YOU KNOW THE ONES. We all had them. It's bad when you're like "well... you kind of deserved to be kidnapped" ....Yeah, I know, I'm a horrible person.

2. The plot line itself and the twist at the end... Chef's Kiss! I really should have seen it coming, but I didn't. I was far too focused on wondering how Genesis was going to get karma back at her to figure out the ending.

3. Too many comments about people's weight. Five pounds too heavy? Yuck. Not cool. Let's remove the stereotypical "you're ugly because you're fat" when the people aren't fat.

4. The book is over 100 hours which is why the title is what it is. Cool concept. Kind of obvious.

5. There's lots of suggestions of hooking up with the bad guys to get free. I feel like teenagers are smarter these days than to just think about hooking up with all of the bad guys instead of coming up with a real plan...

6. The book is fast paced, so there is that. I find Rachel Vincent's writing style easy to read, so that made the book enjoyable. Although, I didn't enjoy the sometimes two to three page chapters. Those drive me INSANE. Short chapters are okay, but multiple three page chapters in a row confuse me.

7. Stupid cliffhanger. Insert grumbles here.

Overall, it was a pleasant book to read. I want to finish book two solely because I adore Maddie and need to know what happens to her. And I'm enjoying her potential romance, so there's that too.

Three out of five stars. ( )

CW: Murder of loved one.

"No one in this tiny Cartagena dive bar knows she’s five pounds too heavy and four inches too short to ever have anything more than her face appear in Teen Vogue, even if her father did design the latest Hermès handbag. In Cartagena, she’s just another hot American tourist. Where everyone else sees anonymity, Neda thinks she’s projecting mystery."


Me a few chapter in: 100 hours with this teen's insightful observations? No thanks. That's a hard pass.
Me at the end: *mutters* should have followed my gut instinct ( )

Genesis talks Maddie and their friends into embarking on a spring break trip to Columbia, even though they are supposed to be in the Bahamas. After they visit with their grandmother who lives there, they go clubbing and meet several people including Sebastian and Luke. Luke goes to Maddie's school and is coincidentally on a trip to Columbia with his parents. Instead of going back to their grandmother's house, they go on a hiking trip. At one of the stops, some of the participants take an early morning side excursion into the jungle, but the rest are rudely awakened by a group of mercenaries and are taken hostage. Sebastian turns out to be one of the leaders of the group of terrorists that has kidnapped them. Genesis finds out that their only hope of rescue is her father, but she has some other ideas about how they might get away and stop the terrorists from getting what they want.

Not only is 100 Hours a jungle adventure, but it also shows what happens to friendship when it is put under pressure. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of cousins Genesis and Maddie. One reason this is important because there are several moments in the story when the two are separated and each follows a different story arc. Both of them grow and mature as the story goes on, finding the courage to not only lead, but to find ways of helping the others. Overall, a good adventure with a twist and a cliffhanger at the end of the book. ( )

Six teenagers kidnapped in Columbia. Sometimes it reads as if they are older than they are and some are less likeable than others. There's plots to the kidnapping that are slowly revealed but not all is revealed in the end.
( )