Book Review: The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
There are so many words within the English language, and yet all of them fail me when it comes to describing The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis. I'd already become aqquainted with her work through A Madness so Discrete (a definite recommend), and to have a friend tell you that this was -the- book to read. How do you argue with that?
Here is a little blurb, as can be found on Goodreads:
Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.
While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.
But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.
So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.
Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
It's a raw and gritty book, dealing with many themes that are generally shunned and unspoken: rape/sexual assault, substance abuse and vigilante murder. Her book takes these tropes and places them under a microscope, allowing us insight into the feelings of the victim, though I wouldn't say that the feelings of a fictional survivor could ever match those of the real world, I'm sure it paints a pretty close picture.
We also see some stereotypes come into play through various characters; Peekay, the young preachers kid that falls into the category of how people view her, simply based on her parents profession. Branley, the drop dead gorgeous, ooze sex appeal, who seems to struggle with the way she thinks about herself. Or I should say the way she thinks she is meant to be, simply based on looks. Jack, the all-American boy next door, works hard and plays hard. I'm not going to lie, a large part of me did not like him. Only because I felt he was undeserving of Alex.
This may come out biased, but Alex is my most favorite character, not because I can relate to her on some level, but because she is the type of girl that I wish most people were like in the world. She accepts people at such a base level, it doesn't matter what what their background is, what their socioeconomic state might be. As long as you don't try to hurt her friends, you are good in her books. That, and she will call you out of your behavior, but not in a way to hurt your feelings or make you angry, but to make you think.
I hope all of you take the chance to read this book, it's so amazing in every kind of way. To be honest, I teared up at the end, but I'm also a super sensitive soul ♥
And in case none of you were aware, as a little bit of a book promotion, Mindy has another novel coming out This Darkness Mine. According to Goodreads, it is set to publish October 11,2017, though I've seen a lot of people with ARC copies on twitter. Check it out!
Happy reading y'all!
PS. I'm still rather new to this whole blogging adventure, so I may not be very good at it. But I will continue to try and for anyone that has any hints or tips as to how I could improve I would much appreciate it!
Here is a little blurb, as can be found on Goodreads:
Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.
But Jack Fisher sees her. He’s the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered hasn’t let him forget Alex over the years, and now her green eyes amid a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn’t want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.
So does Peekay, the preacher’s kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad’s job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex’s protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.
Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
It's a raw and gritty book, dealing with many themes that are generally shunned and unspoken: rape/sexual assault, substance abuse and vigilante murder. Her book takes these tropes and places them under a microscope, allowing us insight into the feelings of the victim, though I wouldn't say that the feelings of a fictional survivor could ever match those of the real world, I'm sure it paints a pretty close picture.
We also see some stereotypes come into play through various characters; Peekay, the young preachers kid that falls into the category of how people view her, simply based on her parents profession. Branley, the drop dead gorgeous, ooze sex appeal, who seems to struggle with the way she thinks about herself. Or I should say the way she thinks she is meant to be, simply based on looks. Jack, the all-American boy next door, works hard and plays hard. I'm not going to lie, a large part of me did not like him. Only because I felt he was undeserving of Alex.This may come out biased, but Alex is my most favorite character, not because I can relate to her on some level, but because she is the type of girl that I wish most people were like in the world. She accepts people at such a base level, it doesn't matter what what their background is, what their socioeconomic state might be. As long as you don't try to hurt her friends, you are good in her books. That, and she will call you out of your behavior, but not in a way to hurt your feelings or make you angry, but to make you think.
I hope all of you take the chance to read this book, it's so amazing in every kind of way. To be honest, I teared up at the end, but I'm also a super sensitive soul ♥
And in case none of you were aware, as a little bit of a book promotion, Mindy has another novel coming out This Darkness Mine. According to Goodreads, it is set to publish October 11,2017, though I've seen a lot of people with ARC copies on twitter. Check it out!Happy reading y'all!
PS. I'm still rather new to this whole blogging adventure, so I may not be very good at it. But I will continue to try and for anyone that has any hints or tips as to how I could improve I would much appreciate it!
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