Book Review : The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis @mindymcginnis @harpercollins

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (September 20, 2016)

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

Holy. Shit 

In a week where the Golden State Killer was finally caught, this book almost feels refreshing. This is not a book for the weak at heart or for those who hope love overcomes all. It is incredibly dark and disturbing. There is rape, attempted rape, gruesome descriptions and events that may turn your stomach.

The side characters of Jack and P.K. (Preacher's Kid, possibly part time alcoholic?) and even that shitstain Branley, were all well done. Tho I must say, I really fucking hated Jack and Branley. Yes they are two just childish sex riddled teens but my god the destruction those two unknowingly caused.

I hate to say that I love Alex, but I do. She is troubled. She is a killer. But she doesn't kill out of fun. She kills to protect. I think "well if she didn't do it, who would?" Were her crimes right? No, of course not but Mindy's writing makes you feel so much sympathy towards this girl. I don't want to spoil but this ending was tragically beautiful, especially P.K.'s final words. It completely broke my heart and left me wondering about the effects on others.

SIDENOTE: AHHHHH VAGINA DOORS!

Mindy McGinnis is an Edgar Award-winning author and assistant teen librarian who lives in Ohio. She graduated from Otterbein University with a degree in English Literature and Religion, and sees nothing wrong with owning nine cats. Two dogs balance things out nicely.

She is the author of A MADNESS SO DISCREET which won the 2016 Edgar Award for Young Adult Fiction, as well as the post-apocalyptic duo NOT A DROP TO DRINK and IN A HANDFUL OF DUST, the first of which has been optioned for film by Fickle Fish Films.

Her first contemporary, THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES releases in September of 2016, followed by the first in a fantasy duology, GIVEN TO THE SEA, releasing on April 11, 2017.

Mindy runs a blog for aspiring writers at Writer, Writer Pants on Fire, which features interviews with agents, established authors, and debut authors. Learn how they landed their agents, what the submission process is really like, and how it feels when you see your cover for the first time. Mindy does query critiques every Saturday on the Saturday Slash for those who are brave enough to volunteer.

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis via @amazon